The Murder Trials
by Carissa Faeky
Summary: Seven souls go through intense trials to see who can survive in a world of pain and horror.  Slightly depressing, but with sarcasm.
1. Chapter 1 Shanaia

Part of one of my stories...Depressing and sad, I know. Just cause I can write this stuff doesn't mean I think this way about life. I'm a HAPPY PERSON PEOPLE! NOT SUICIDAL! I LOVE GOD AND JESUS, MY SAVIOR!

* * *

Shanaia wept as she watched her parents bodies lowered into the dank ground. What had gone so wrong?

She had kept to the rules like she was told, and yet nothing was right. Was having a peaceful life really the ultimate goal, as she had so often believed?

She hadn't ever gotten in the way of anyone. She fingered her scars and bruises with shaking fingers.

There had been no pleasure in her life with her parents, and yet, she loved them. Oh, how she loved them.

Even though she had been beaten regularly and her mother stood by like it was nothing. Was it her? Was it really her fault as it had been so forcefully told to her by her drunken fool of a father? Is since she's worthless that why she had been raped by her brother? Because she was trash? She truly deserved the worst, unlike all those happy, peppy little brats from her high school who know nothing?

She turns to go back to the life of that of a charming, happy-go-lucky girl with seemingly nothing to hide. Back to the meaningless existence of a drone's life. Nothing special, everything average.

But then, if nothing is special, what is everything's job? To exist, and maintain order?

She shook her head. Turning her face upward, she felt the raindrops kiss her face. She was almost graduated, able to take care of herself. This will be a new beginning, right? A place where she could forget about everything she had done and had done to her? Should she really forget? Isn't the world supposed to work like you learn from your mistakes?

She glided up to her car and slipped inside, closing the door, both of her car and to her past. She was popular at school, for both her grace and her seemingly comforting personality. Yet, behind her back, people talk. They say she's a slut, and someone so disgusting that she should be shunned from their lives. Brushed off like a grain of sand in an oyster.

What do I even have to go back to? A fake life? One where I can love no one and be unloved? To be judged like a lamb to slaughter? Is that even a truthful existence? She put her car into gear and backed out of the cemetery parking lot. Hope for a better life was something she could not afford in this cold, empty world.

She skimmed around one of the twisting roads on the way back to her apartment. Always being told her choices were wrong or sick, what was she supposed to turn to? There was no one to listen, really listen to her. Dying would be too painful. She rubbed the scars around her wrists. She knew from experience.

No one would truly miss me if I was gone. Couldn't god just come and take me away? I could rest, then, couldn't I?

She blinked, like she was getting sleepy. When she opened her eyes, there was a small shinigami on her dashboard. 'Are you here for me?' She wondered.

"Only if you want me to be. It's your choice. You can either have the painful death you're so afraid of, or you can just disappear with me. The car will go off the cliff and you will leave your flesh and be free."

'Truly free? After so long?'

She smiled sadly. The shinigami had the barest smile around his lips and patted her forehead.

"If that's your decision, then…" He sent her to sleep. "Shhh… It'll be over soon. You'll see. You'll get peace from one world, only to be thrust into another."

Like the rest.


	2. Chapter 2 Brenda and Cally

Brenda smiled at her friend. No matter what the situation, Cally could usually bring a smile to her face. She was one of the few people to not find her quiet nature off putting. Cally had a habit of saying her opinion, whether it would be agreed with or not.

"Brenda, you're so adorable!"

"Cally. Shut up."

"No, really! If I was a man, I'd snap you right up! Like this!" She attempted to snap her fingers and sighed when she failed.

"Calm down, would you? It's your stop. See you tomorrow, dearie!" Brenda gave her a hug, and sent her on her way.

A while later, Brenda arrived home to a hectic scene. Her mother was trying to get ready for work while her siblings were screaming, one because he's a baby, and the other because she wanted to argue. The only living thing that seemed remotely happy to see her was her dog. And her dog is happy to see anyone. She sighed. She could tell that it would be one of those nights, the one where she gets nothing done that she needs to.

"Mom, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Can you wash the dishes, make your sisters lunch, and change your brother? I have to get to work, and I know I'm already going to be late."

"Sure. Good luck today." Her mom rushed off, intent on work.

It was always like this, her being in the role of a parent to her siblings. Her mother was a good parent, but she was always busy trying to keep food on the table so she was never around. Brenda shook her head and continued with her chores. She got her siblings to bed around a decent time, grabbed a bowl of carrots, and shut herself into her bedroom. She flipped channels for awhile on her bipolar television until she became drowsy. She curled her blanket around her body and decided to try to get some rest.

She hated sleeping.

Sleeping meant dreaming, and dreaming meant a lack of control over her thoughts and memories.

On nights like tonight, she could have told you ahead of time what her dream would be. It was always the same when her mom was gone. Her brain recalled memories of before her mother kicked out Brenda's stepfather.

In her dream, she was seven years old again, playing with dolls on her bedroom floor. Her mother had to work today, so her stepfather was supposed to be watching her. Instead, he was getting drunk and screaming at the tv. She cringed, knowing that if his team loses he'll end up blaming her. She bided her time till he burst in her room.

He screamed at her for being her mother's brat as he slapped her across her face. She recoiled and tried to run past him. He snatched her wrist and dragged her back in front of him.

"I don't know why she had you. Stupid woman, to have such a worthless daughter. Are you even her daughter? You little whore! You'll grow up to be a leech. All women are leeches. Unintelligent, obnoxious, and ugly LEECHES!"

She knew that she'd have to let him blow over. If she cried, he'd hit her again, harder. She hiccuped in her effort to hold back her tears.

His face turned red, like a hiccup was a insult to his manliness. He threw her against the wall and stomped towards her.

"You little bit-"

She woke up in a cold sweat. She turned on all the lights in the room and checked to make sure the front door and her bedroom door were locked. She let her dog inside her room, curled up next to him, and tried to sleep again. After a half hour she realized that sleep wasn't going to happen. She flipped open her laptop and surfed the web, finally deciding on watching Blood Plus. She was roused from her daze by her phone's alarm and jumped out of her bed. She swiftly grabbed her clothes and dressed, packing her backpack along the way.

She waved to her bus driver and skedaddled onto her bus.

She arrived at school, greeted by calls of "Good morning" and "How're you doin'?" She fell backwards, landing on her rump as Cally half-hugged, half-killed her.

"Cally! Take it easy! Gosh, you're such a child!"

"So?"

"Get to class."

"Hey, I was there before you!"

The two girls dashed to their English class and made it inside just as the final bell rang out. They smiled at each other and took their seats. Their teacher walked to the front of the room, began a slide show, and started to give a lecture. Almost immediately, laptops were opened, phones came out, and iPods were turned on. The teacher droned on, oblivious to any distractions. Brenda was almost asleep as someone started to scream in the hallway. She jerked awake to sounds of gun shots. The teacher became momentarily paralyzed before throwing open the window.  
"We're the closest classroom to the front door. Come on, come on! Move, move, move move!

Everyone scrambled for the window, either too scared to scream, or already unconscious from stress. They spotted the gunman outside of the door, and he began to open the unlocked door. Brenda opened her mouth to yell a warning, but froze in alarm.

Cally threw herself in front of the door, and locked it, screaming profanities at the gunman. He sneered at her and shot her in her knee. She latched onto the door handle, keeping the gunman out. He started shooting the door hinges, popping them out. Brenda glanced once at her classmates. There were still at least ten waiting to escape. Brenda grimaced and threw herself against the door, supporting Cally's weight. She stared into the gunman's eyes, recognizing the edge of insanity taking hold there. Brenda heard the ring of sirens in the distance, but she knew that they wouldn't get here in time to stop the gunman from taking the room and killing those left in it unless she and Cally held the gunman at the door, even at the cost of their own lives. She turned her head back to the doorway and stared down the barrel of a semi automatic gun.

She took in a breath to offer up a short prayer to God and prepared to meet Him. She closed her eyes. When nothing happened, she opened them in confusion. Two creatures perched on the door frame above the two girls. Cally's head lolled back and she stared at the creatures with interest.

"Hello, there!" Cally smiled lopsidedly.

The two creatures glanced at her, each other, then Brenda. They addressed Brenda, since she seemed more sane minded.

"So, you're about to die. How does it feel?" The female one asked Brenda.

"Excuse me?"

"Are you scared? Happy? Regretful? What?"

"Jaz. Shut up. What're we here to do. Stay focused."

"It's not my fault! I'm curious!"

The male creature sent 'Jaz' a death glare and continued to talk to Brenda.

"You and your little friend, here, have a chance to not feel the pain of death in this world. All it would mean, is that you two would play a game for us in another world. You'll probably die, anyway, but it'll mean a little more time breathing. Isn't that what all of you humans want, anyway?"

"You overestimate our shallowness. Why would we have been in place to die, anyway, if we only cared about living?"

"Stupidity?"

"Not really. It's called compassion, thanks."

"Right. Either way, you can die now by gunshot, or you can live somewhere else for awhile. Decide."

"Are there dandelions and squirrels in this new world?"

"Who cares?"

"Me."

The demon shook his head. "Sure, there are weeds and animals. Good enough?"

"I'll go!" Cally nodded, looking paler and paler as blood drained onto the floor.

"You're so impulsive," Brenda sighed. "I can't let you go alone. You'll probably get lost or end up falling into a black hole."

"I so love your confidence in me."

"It's settled, then." The demons grabbed the girls consciousness from their bodies and brought them upward to watch the carnage of their deaths. The last of the students dove out of the window as the gunman shot through their bodies, spewing blood and skin across the tile.

"You two'll be in the news, y'know," started the female creature. "The headline's will read, 'Two girls killed in school shooting. They saved their class. Their sacrifices shall be remembered.' or something equally sappy. You humans love your deaths too much. Once you're dead, it's over. No pretty funeral can change that. You're essentially fertilizer."

"Glad to see you love traditions." Brenda said sarcastically, glancing over to the source of a sigh.

"It doesn't feel real..." Cally mumbled.

"What doesn't?"

"Dude. We just watched ourselves be shot up like a bad cop show. Little people invaded the room and told us that there are other worlds. What part of any of that makes sense to you?"

"I'm still stuck at the fact that our freak school has a freak gunman."


	3. Chapter 3 Derek and Alex

Derek spewed gravel everywhere as he came to a skidding stop on his bike. He left it behind the warehouse, lying on it's side. His hometown had become increasingly dangerous for him and his gang ever since his old leader had died in a drive-by. His gang was strong armed into joining with their rivals or they would be annihilated. Derek still held some hope that they'd be able to turn members of the rival gang into their own members and stage a coup against their new leader. So far he hadn't had much luck. As second in command of the old gang, he stayed in the warehouse with the new leader and his second command. Both were sleazy characters, not straying away from murder, blackmail, thievery, and kidnapping. Neither were very kind to the opposite gender, either.

He shook his head and entered the building, stomping his feet to shake loose the mud in his boots. Seth, the power-hungry second in command, smirked at him and set down his pop can.

"Where've you been? The Boss is pretty ticked that you ditched him this morning. Wouldn't want to be in your shoes when he sees you. You know he's looking for any excuse to rid this gang of any...unnecessary people."

"Then you should thank your lucky stars that you're still here, cause..." Derek tilted his head mockingly towards Seth.

Seth spat on the floor and turned away, throwing the can over his shoulder.

Derek headed towards the 'main office' of the Boss. He could hear someone yelling, and someone whimpering softly. He threw open the door without knocking, a big no-no in this place. He was all ready in trouble, how much worse could it be? He stopped cold, seeing the Boss dragging a girl across the floor by her hair. She was scratching at his clammy arm, raking it hard enough to leave trails of blood up his arm. Her lips were swollen, and Derek could see a welt on her cheek all ready forming.

He bounded across the room while he still had the element of surprise on the Boss and punched him in the jaw. He was satisfied to hear a resounding crack of bone. The Boss's head hit the wall and he moaned, grasping at his face. Derek pulled the girl to her feet and pointed her towards the door. She nodded and escaped while Derek watched to make sure Seth didn't see her and try to stop her. He turned in disgust to the man he was supposed to obey. At least the old Boss had morals, and his fellow gang members were more family to him. He had people to watch his back. Here, he was watching out for his old crew, himself, and whoever the Boss set his sights on to torment.

Still, he'd better leave before the Boss is able to decide how to kill him. He glanced at the writhing man and estimated that he'd have about half an hour to hide away. He set off at a brisk pace to his bike. Maybe now would be a good time to visit those relatives across the continent. He pedaled as speedily as he could, keeping to well-lighted streets with few people. He biked for two hours until he came to an old bridge. He slipped under the ledge, found a dry corner near the end of the bridge, and settled in to sleep.

He woke to the sound of rushing water. The water had risen during the night, not terribly so, but enough to make him leave his refuge. He twitched in surprise when his cell went off. It seemed too loud in this deserted area. He answered it with a gruff, "Hello."

"Yo, Derek? Where you at, man?" It was one of his buddies from the old gang."

"Hidin' out for a bit. I punched the Boss in the jaw. Kinda broke it. Why?"

"Well, Seth was gloating about his 'amazing seeking skills."

"So?"

"So, he found this chick, all beat up. Didn't think anything of it till they started saying something about bait for a traitor. What's going on, man?"

"Damn."  
"What?"

"I'll be there. Are they staying put, or are they headed somewhere?"

"Looks like they're headed down by the river. Y'know, the one by the burned down farm house?"

"I'll be there."

"I'd say be careful, but I know you don't care. If it helps, us old member's have been blackmailed into staying put. You're on your own, man. Good luck."

"Great," Derek said sarcastically. "I appreciate it."

"Anytime." He hung up.

He tossed his bike alongside the road and hopped on, pedalling faster than he had when he was escaping. He made it to the riverside in less than half the time it'd taken him to get to the bridge.

He peered over the edge of the top of the hill. Seth and some of his posse had the girl's wrists and ankles bound, and they were tormenting her. Her shirt was torn in multiple places and she had knife marks all over her arms, legs, chest, and neck. Her face was puffy from unshed tears. Derek's blood boiled. Seth spotted him and waved him over, like they were old friends.

"Aw, hey! Look who showed up! My dear friend, Derek! Hey, look who I found. Isn't she lovely?" He mocked, ruffling the girl's hair. His face hardened. "Alex, I leave the girl and the traitor to you. See you back at the Office later." He slipped into the shadows of the early morning, flicking a signal to the rest of the members to follow.

Derek spat in Seth's direction and turned his attention back towards Alex and the mystery girl. Alex was holding her upright by her neck and smirking at Derek.

"What's up, bro? Cute chick, huh?" He slid his knife across her cheek, drawing a fine line of blood. He licked the knife, and smiled. "Mmm. I bet she tastes good elsewhere, too."

He drew a slow circle with the knife where her shirt met her jeans, laughing as a single tear dripped down the girl's face. She looked up at Derek pleadingly. He couldn't take it anymore. He tore down the hill, churning up clumps of soil behind him. His fist plowed into Alex's forehead, but he didn't budge.

"You suck. That was weak, you idiot. Come at me like you're serious, or I'll kill the girl before I kill you."

Derek realized he was being baited, but he reacted anyway. He pounded away at Alex, but he kept being deflected or dodged. Finally, one connected into Alex's neck. His neck snapped back momentarily and he stumbled, giving Derek the chance to snap Alex's finger's off of the girl. Alex howled and cracked his fingers back into place. He grinned again, muttering under his breath.

"Better, amateur." He twirled his knife and jabbed at Derek, scoring a hit in his forearm. Derek winced as Alex yanked his knife free of his arm. Derek grabbed Alex's neck and twisted, but Alex uppercut Derek's jaw. Derek stuck out his feet and flipped Alex onto his back, hitting his head on a rock. He dashed towards the girl with Alex's fallen knife. He slit the bonds, and the girl slumped back, rubbing her wrists and ankles to get feeling back into them.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Your baddie buddy is back up," she nodded towards Alex.

Derek sighed.

"Two versus one is better odds," she stated.

"Um, no? For one you're a girl, for two..."

"I've been on the streets for most of the last decade. Today is simply a more vibrant day than most. I'm Sarah, by the way." The girl grabbed a branch from the ground and cracked it like a whip.

Alex growled in annoyance and jumped around Sarah, heading for Derek. Derek met him head on, the two trading a series of blows. The girl managed to kick Alex in the head a few times, as well as lash his back and neck with the branch. This continued for about two minutes. Alex somehow continued having the upper hand, since he had no partner to worry about. All motion froze as a hideous crunching sound came from the road above. All heads turned towards the noise, freezing at the sight of a semi flipping end over end towards the combatants. Derek dove for Sarah, ready to try to shield her from the crash. When no one screamed, they opened their eyes. The truck was frozen in midair, hanging like it was suspended from wires.

"What the hell?" Alex muttered.

Derek scrambled off of Sarah, only to come face to face with two non-human beings.

"Can't we get killed without mythical creatures invading Earth?" Sarah chaffed.

"I'd answer the implied question, but it would insult your small brain capacity for such things," one of the shinigami retorted.

"Now," she continued, "To business. Guess what? You three are about to die. Congratulations. Y'all must be some of the unluckiest people in this world. Your only spark of luck is that our kind takes pity on a group of humans every few years. So, two of you get to come with us, and, since we're feeling generous, one of you gets to live, and not be crushed by the semi."

"If you guys are so awesome, why can't you just rewind time and wake up the trucker so he can see where he's going? Or at least have it avoid all of us?" Sarah quipped.

Derek, who'd been sitting quietly this whole time, spoke up. "Why do you need us?"

"Vecause vee vant to suck your vlood!" The other shinigami cackled. "MUAHAHAHA-"

"Shut up, Brianna," snapped the other shinigami. She turned towards the teens. "Seriously, we want you guys to come play our game in our realm. It's like a...a demon version of the Olympics. But, just like in the Olympics, you could still die, anyway. So, choose two of you guys before we do it ourselves. And I'm only slightly more patient than Brianna."

Derek thought quickly.

"If I stay, Alex can terrorize Sarah wherever they go. If Alex stays, this type of thing could happen again. The only way this could work is if Alex and I go. There. Decided."

"Hey, now. You and I are going to have serious issues if you just decide stuff like that!" Sarah protested. Derek explained his reasoning to her and she sighed, slowly excepting it.

"I'm fine with that. Your world promises to be more interesting than this one," Alex assented.

"Yeah, and there'll be cute chicks there, too. I've seen some of the other gamers. Dang, man!" Brianna smirked at Alex and Derek. The first shinigami turned to Sarah and began explaining something to her.

"Since you've seen us and you aren't coming with us, you're going to live somewhere between our world and yours. You'll live in periods of both. You'll live a full, happy life, okay? Also, you'll be able to help out the gamers while they're trying to survive."

"That's fine with me. I wasn't planning on staying in this city for more than a week anyway," she assured her.

"Then it's settled. You, duck down," the shinigami instructed her. She nodded and did as she was told, looking up at Derek.

"Thanks for saving me."  
"Anytime. Good luck, wherever you are."

"I'm not the one who needs it. Hey! If you get the chance, kill that bastard for me, okay?"

"I'd like to see that," Alex growled, arms crossed in front of his chest lazily.

Derek and Alex felt themselves being yanked from their bodies as time unfroze and their bodies were crushed under the tumbling semi. Sarah ducked, covering her head as the truck skimmed over her; missing her head by a mere millimeter. She stood up and brushed herself off. She looked pointedly away from the boys' bloodied carcasses. Waving to Derek, she nodded to the shinigami and disappeared. The boys stared at their bodies with a mix of disgust and morbid interest."

"All right. Time to go. Say your goodbyes to the solid world, dearies."


	4. Chapter 4 Serenity

Serenity breathed in the vapors of her cigarette, holding the smoke in her mouth until she blew it out in one smooth breath, creating a spiral of smoke in the air. This was the best. Sitting around with friends and smoking a bowl or two while downing shots.  
"Serenity, pass the joint. Quit hogging it!"  
She passed a roll to the all-ready stoned girl, but not before taking a drag on it. She laughed as the girl gave her the finger.  
"Sorry, honey. Don't do it with girls. Try Kelsey. She's bi...And drunk."  
The girl spat on the floor next to Serenity's feet. "Right. Whatever."  
"Since when haven't you been bi?" Serenity's boyfriend slid his arms around her waist from behind.

"Since I decided that anything they could do, I could do better."

He laughed. "Well, I suppose I should be glad you haven't taken that stance on the male species, yet."

"And it's your job to make sure it stays that way," she said, kissing him. He squeezed her butt and wandered away, mumbling something about getting some more booze.

This was the way she'd been brought up. The more you party, the more it seemed like your problems didn't matter so much. It hadn't affected her school life either. She was the top of her class, and the only one to gain a much sought after scholarship to the nations best school of design. She was the envy of her classmates and the favorite pupil of many of the teachers. She scoffed at the studies and religious zealots who claimed that drugs and booze messed up the brain. If all of what those "losers" were saying was true, then why did luck seem to smile on her so much?

She winced as a bottle crashed to the floor while two girls began screaming at each other. Serenity rolled her eyes and told the by-standing boyfriends to "control their women."

"It's because of idiots like them that raids happen. A do-gooder neighbor hears screaming and calls the cops. Cops show up, and well. Lookee here! A drug-fest. Arrest city, and cops get a boost in pay and ego," she complained to another party-goer. They nodded, like they understood what she was talking about. Of course, they didn't. They were riding a low, and nothing was really registering in their brain as important. Not that she was important. She sighed. Glancing back at her boyfriend, she snorted at the shot contest he was winning. The other guy was turning green while her boyfriend downed his eighth shot.  
They couldn't hear the pounding on the door over the cheers. It came as a shock as the police broke down the loft door and ambushed her party. People scattered, some breaking for the door, some breaking for the balcony, and a few going for the fire escape. Her boyfriend was the first out of the door, no concern for his girlfriend, of course. Girlfriends are replaceable. Criminal records are not.

Serenity dashed for the fire escape with a female cop on her tail. She scrambled over the windowsill and gripped the ladder, missing the top rung. She fell, snapping her shoulder on one of the metal rungs, leaving a deep gash in her arm. She gasped, feeling the blood dripping down her arm towards her neck.

She looked up at the window and stared at a tazer being waved in her face. She can't get arrested now! It would ruin everything she worked so hard for.  
The rickety ladder began to sway with her weight, the rung bending under her. She scrabbled to get a grip on the metal with both of her hands, but managed only to lose her grip entirely. Her blood-slick hands raked the air, grasping for something, anything to save her from the four story descent. The world seemed to slow to a stop, waiting for her to hit the ground. In fact, time had stopped. She noticed a miniature female floating in the space in front of her.  
"What's up?"  
"Huh?"  
"Isn't that something you humans say to each other when you meet? No?"  
"Who are-"  
"Look, hon. You only have so long before you hit the ground and go splat. You should listen now, while you still have your ears intact.  
"O..kay?"  
"Good girl. Now, how would you like to go somewhere before you hit the ground? You'd Live in another world for a bit, play a bit of a game with us. How does that sound?"  
"Like heaven?"  
"To some, it may feel like it."

"Well, considering that the two options are living a while longer and dying painfully, I think I'd like to accept your offer of a different fate, thanks."

The demon smirked and unfroze time. "Good answer."  
Serenity felt her consciousness pulled from her body, and watched as her carcass hit the concrete sidewalk below, leaving a mess of mangled muscle a bone to splatter the ground.  
The demon looked at the mess approvingly. "You make a pretty dead person."  
"Thanks...I think."


	5. Chapter 5 Todd

Todd sighed dramatically. "Ugh, I can't deal with you lot today!" He swatted away another ghost. "For once, I actually have a paper to write!" He pushed through the throng of ghosts blocking his way. A fierce wind whipped up a moldy milk carton from the street and whopped him in the face. He closed his eyes in disgust as the soggy paper slowly slid down his face. Lovely. Every day he's followed around by restless spirits, trying to get him to send messages or do some chore for them. He was cursed, some would say blessed, with his family's gift of the sixth sense. He kicked an empty pop can along the gutter. The second time he kicked it, it hit a rock and flew into a car's windshield. He winced as the car alarm blared. He started running, not bothering to check and see if the car's owner heard the honking. He was glad he did, as a moment later a musclebound guy burst out of the china shop and headed towards him, cursing at Todd.  
A girl ghost floated towards him. "Hey, boy-a! Need some help?"  
"Yeah, that might be nice."  
"You sure? I know you hate my help."  
"Anything you do to me beats getting caught by muscle-boy, there. Hurry up, Kelsey!"  
Kelsey smiled and grabbed his hand with her translucent one and dragged him through a alley wall, into the back of a thrift store, and out the back of the exit. Todd laughed at the car's owner's shout of alarm at him going through a solid wall.  
"Sorry, I know you hate it when I do stuff like that in front of other living people."  
"Trust me when I say that I appreciate it this time. I can make it home without being pounded into a pulp."  
"It's easier if you just let me enter your body, but you won't let me do that!" She pouted.  
"That...That's...That's because it's weird!" He stuttered. For her to enter his body, she entered through his mouth, by a odd type of kiss. It was weird enough that he had been in love with her when she was alive, only to find out he could see ghost's after she died. He sighed. It was a shock to step out of the shower and see her translucent form sitting on his counter. He had screamed like a little girl and tried to cover his man parts. She had just laughed and told him that it was nothing she hadn't seen before. He squeaked out a question on her meaning about that, and she pointed out that they'd bathed together as kids. He claimed that there was a difference. She replied simply that 'she was a ghost. Why should she care?'  
Todd shuddered at the memory. He'd often ask her why she was still here, bound to earth. She hadn't replied, yet. It doesn't seem like she's a restless spirit, or a vengeful spirit. He sighed. Glancing up, he noticed that she was still staring at him.  
"What?" He snapped.  
"Glad you're in a good mood."  
"What's wrong, now?"  
"Well, I know you've been wondering why I haven't disappeared, yet..."

"It's not like I want you to go!" He protested.

"Shut up," she snapped. "Let me finish! So, you sparked my interest, and I searched through books and the inter-webs and such. Apparently ghosts with lingering attachments or ghosts with 'familiar' type spirits both stick around on earth. A familiar is a partner that's not human, right? So..."

"So which are you?"

"Um...Both, I think. You were my best friend, so I have an attachment, but since I can touch and move things in this world, I guess I'm your familiar. Your...shinigami, if you will."

"But, a shinigami is a death god. How're you a death god? You like all things pink and girlly. No offense."

"Erm," she hesitated. "Well, I wanted to protect you. Since you have the sixth sense, I figured you'd need better protection than just your own. When I died, I begged to be transfered to be able to protect you. They said the only way that could happen was if I were to become your shinigami. Your shinigami, to be precise."  
"Why would I need protecting?"

"Because you pull stunts like you did a few minutes ago."

"Oh. Huh."

"Yeah, huh. I can't let you get arrested for your stupidity."

Todd growled at her, miffed. He stomped over to the fence behind the building separating it from the field over yonder. He sighed. Being able to see ghosts was the only interesting part of his life. His parents left him on his own all the time. On his sixteenth birthday, he announced that he was leaving to go live on his own, as it would be more efficient for him. His parent's response was to let him know that if he ever needed anything, just give them a call. Not that he was expecting much of a response. His parents were workaholics, so he was never for want money-wise, but the only real relationship he'd had was with Kelsey, and even that was a different kind of relationship. He stared at the patterns the clouds made against the setting sun. Amazing that a ball of fire and gas could create such beauty. Kelsey floated in front of him, shading his view momentarily. He relaxed against the fence, feeling the barbs of chains imprint themselves upon his hands. Kelsey slumped to the ground next to him with a contented sigh. He glanced over at her and smirked, shaking his head at her.

"I didn't know ghosts could get tired."

"Psh. You know you love me," she scoffed.

He rolled his eyes. Probably time to get home. It was almost fully dark, and he still had a paper to write. He levered himself off the ground, pushing himself to his feet.

"C'mon, Kels," he called. When she didn't respond, he turned around to see what was up. She was standing stock-still, like she was listening to some invisible voice. After a moment, she relaxed. She glanced at him hesitantly.

"Um, actually, I just got orders of a job. I've got to go somewhere, all right? I'll see you before you go to bed, though," she smiled apologetically.

"Oh." He was surprised. "I thought your job was to protect me."

She looked uncomfortable. "It is. But, I really have to go now. See you later." She disappeared with a wave.  
"Great. Just...great," he grumbled as he walked the length of the fence. The temperature quickly dropped in this northern city. He ran his hands up and down his arms to ward off goosebumps. Spotting his apartment building, he slipped his keycard into the entrance lock until it flashed green. He slipped inside, and offered a greeting to the landlord at the front desk. What was the topic of his essay, again? He thought for a moment, before recalling the topic-the benefits of natural gas versus oil. He stuck his metal key into his front door and twisted it, jimmying it till it caught. Delighted squeals caught his ears as he stepped inside. He managed to catch a glimpse of two of his neighbor's kids chasing each other down the hall way. The older brother was chasing his little sister towards their apartment, pretending to be a monster. Todd smiled. He remembered playing like that with Kelsey when they were little kids. He plodded to his desk and flipped open his laptop to begin writing his essay.  
He'd been typing for a solid hour when he stopped to stretch. He jolted as the fire alarm began shrieking. He covered his ears before racing to his door and peering out into the hall. People were running through the halls to get outside. He joined the melee and slipped outside, into the drizzle. People were screaming and trying to find family members, joined with shouts of joy and cries of babies. He tuned into one conversation. The neighbor with the kids from earlier was gripping the older brother and trying to get the child to make sense.  
"What happened? Where's your sister? Where is your sister?"  
"I-I don't know! She was right behind me, then...She wasn't!" The kid snivvled, snot running down his face.  
"Oh, God." She made to dash into the burning building, but another neighbor held her back, saying that it wasn't possible to go in there any longer.  
"My BABY! MY BABY! I need to get my BABY!" She screamed.

Right then, Todd made a decision. He stepped purposefully towards the building, clamping a damp cloth to his mouth. He made for the stairs, striding up them while dodging flaming debris. He ducked under a falling plank, and smashed into hie neighbor's door, breaking it down. The room was thick with black smoke. He heard a soft whimpering coming from the window, and he ran towards the sound, scooping up a small girl who was nearly unconscious. He felt his way back to the door by using the walls to guide him. He sped to the stair top, only to see nothingness where the stairs had once been. He screamed in frustration and pain as the fire lapped at the skin on his arms, crisping the skin to black. He knew that it was more likely to die from smoke suffocation than burning alive, so his death would be relatively painless once he passed out. He held his breath until he realized that the flames had frozen. He glanced around, confused.

"See, I told you I'd be back," she grinned gravely.  
"Yeah, great timing," he muttered sarcastically.  
She glared at him. "Blah blah blah, would yo like to be able to live in some form or another in another realm with me and a few other human-shinigami partners? You won't feel your earthly death," she explained as if it all made perfect sense.  
"S-sure?"  
"All right!" She did a fist pump and smiled at him before disappearing again. He felt himself being torn from his body. It was relatively painless, and he floated through the walls of flame and out the front door. He felt sad for the girl's mother and brother. She was well loved. He prayed she'd find peace wherever she goes now. He's off to who knows where with a shinigami. He had a feeling he'd need some luck of his own.


	6. Chapter 6: The Beginning of the Game

Chapter One-Cally's POV

"Oww..." I rubbed the elbow I'd landed on and glanced around. I appeared to be in a square room with slightly dusty wood floors and undecorated white walls. I spotted Brenda across the room and she waved apprehensively to me. I acknowledged her with a nod. She must have gotten here just before me. She seemed to have an understanding of her surroundings already. There were other people here, too. I wonder if they all had been near death like us. My gaze darted from person to person, trying not to linger, just in case they were crazies. There were two other girls besides Brenda and me. One of the girls looked stoned and the other looked practically suicidal. I noticed three guys in the room. Two looked like they wanted to kill each other, and the other looked dazed and confused. What a great group. I shook my head. Rolling my eyes, I stood and slipped over to Brenda, sitting between her and 'suicide.'

"Hey," I whispered. "You okay? What do you think is going on?"

"How should I know? I got here at the same time as you."

"I was just asking," I muttered. Brenda gave me a dark look as a figure appeared in the center of the room. 'Suicide' twitched in surprise and stared at the new figure with reproach.

"Yo!" The figure was a young humanoid demon with horns adorning his head.  
No one else was saying anything, so I spoke up. "Um, hello? Who're you?"

He turned to face me. He said nothing, just stared.

"What?" I asked, uncomfortable.

"You're a peppy one, aren't you? How'd you die, say too much to the wrong person?"

Brenda snorted.

I glared at her.

"No, actually. We," I indicated Brenda and myself, "got shot full of holes by an insane gunman at our school. And you?" This guy irked me. Sure, I talk a lot, and it has a habit of getting me into trouble, but that doesn't mean he has to be condescending.

"Well, at least that's better than being so stoned you fell out of a window while evading the coppers."

"Excuse me," 'Stoner' interrupted, "For one, I slipped on a ladder. Don't make it sound like I was so stoned out of my mind that I couldn't walk straight. Secondly, can you get to what you're here for, so we don't have to be around you?"  
He waited until she had finished talking to begin speaking again. "Personally, my world has no way to get 'high,' so I don't see the point of you and your idiocy. Anyway, you seven are here to play our game. The object is to be the last one alive. Seems simple, right?" He continued on, not expecting an answer. "Too bad. There are rules and trials to complicate whatever you lot thought was going to be easy. For example, you can't thin out the competition yourselves. If you're about to kill each other, you simply won't be able to. If you try, nothing will happen." He handed me a gun.

"Shoot him." He pointed to one of the two angry guys. "The blond one. Alex."

I set my aim and fired unhesitatingly. Alex never flinched. The bullet sped dead towards his heart, but curved around him at the last second.

"Huh!" I smiled. I think I'll like this place.

"Cally...You can't just randomly fire guns at guys you don't even know! You should be one of the people who should have learned that lesson by now! I mean, we did just get SHOT!"

Brenda yelled at me, exasperated.

"It wasn't random! He told me to. He said no one would get hurt, and besides! He's obviously in a position of authority over us, however slight that authority may be," I nodded to the demon, who acknowledged me with a tilt of his head. "Also, Alex didn't seem very bothered."

"Oh, I'm bothered," he breathed in my ear. I jumped. He had slipped behind me while I was arguing with Brenda. "I guess Derek's not the only one I'll have to watch."

"And watch is the only thing you'll be able to do," I snapped. He backed off, smirking at me as he moved back to his spot. "Can we listen now, please?"

"Why not," the demon shrugged. "The trials are basically your biggest fear come to life, but worse. They'll kill some of you, and they'll make everyone who survives stronger."

"Great." 'Confused' looked slightly less confused and slightly more pissed off.

"But you haven't even heard anything worth being called great, yet! The next bit I'm going to tell you is great, though. It'll up your chances of survival."

"So could you tell us what this oh so great information is?"

"I was about to, when you interrupted me."

"Please, talk over him," Brenda said, motioning for him to continue.

"Gladly. Your strongest wish or quality that you had on Earth has become amplified and manifested in yourselves. It's up to you to figure out what they are, though. Hopefully you'll figure them out before y'all are sent into my world and die."

"How are we supposed to figure out how everything works? Trial and error? And who were those people-creatures…"

"Shinigami," the demon interrupted.

"…Shinigami who took us here?"

"They're your shinigami partners. Speaking of which, they'll show up around the time that you guys are going to leave here for our world. They should explain things. Good luck, and try not to die!" He waved cheerfully and made it to leave but Stoner grabbed his sleeve.

"Besides getting to live, is there any prizes?"

"Oh, right! There'll be minor boons along the way, and the final winner gets one wish of their choice."

The other angry boy probed "Are there any restrictions on that wish?"

"None I'm aware of. Let's talk if you actually make it that far, okay?" He nodded at us and disappeared.

We sat, staring at each other before suicide spoke up.

"So, um, what now?"

"Since we're stuck here for a while, we may as well get to know each other. Tips on how to best protect each other," the brown haired angry boy spoke up.

"Or so we can figure out how to get you guys killed," Alex sneered.

"Shut up, preppy," I snapped. After glaring at the annoying man-child I continued, "I'm Cally. High school senior." I glanced meaningfully at Brenda.

"Why do I have to go next?" She complained.

"Because you're my best friend and I love you." I saw some eyebrows raise at that declaration and I decided to clarify, seeing as the people in the room with me don't know how my brain works. "Don't think dirty thoughts, gentlemen and gentle-ladies. I don't swing for girls. Sorry if I sparked your libidos by inferring that I might be a sexy lesbian. Deal with it. So! Brenda!" I put my arm around her shoulders. "Who're you?"

She shrugged out of my arms and gave me a death glare. "Quit touching me. Idiot, you just told them who I am."

"My bad," I cringed. "Do continue."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm Brenda. I was a high school senior in the same school as Cally. We both were shot by the same guy at the same time."

The boy who looked continually confused was up next. "I'm Todd," he mumbled, becoming more confident as time passed. "I was a high school junior. On earth, I could see ghosts. It was sort of a family gift, I guess." He glanced at Alex, who grimaced.

"Why do I need to tell you guys anything about myself?" He complained. This guy was going to end up being punched in the face, whether by me or by someone else he pisses off.

"Thank goodness the rules didn't say anything about not being able to seriously injure each other," I muttered under my breath.

His gaze snapped back to me. "I'd like to see you try, butch."

"I'm sure you would. Sadly, I don't waste my time on those I view as weaker than me."

"How the hell are you stronger than me?" He laughed. "You look like a chick who spends a lot of time on her back, not on her guard."

At that crude statement I was shocked into silence, my mouth opening and closing like a fish. I couldn't think of a comeback. Luckily for me, Brenda was there to rescue me. "Thank you for your interestingly inaccurate point of view. Next would be," she paused, "you, I believe." She pointed to the boy with the shaggy brown hair.

He ducked his head. "My name is Derek. I'm a senior, like you two girls but I've finished my freshman year in college. I died because a semi rolled over onto me while I was fighting _that_ guy," he pointed to Alex, "because he was being cruel and abusive to a random girl for fun."

"Hey, it was her fault for being weak. Besides, just because it was fun doesn't mean that it was _for_ fun. I only did it to bait you," Alex grinned bitterly. "I guess the main objective was accomplished, anyways. You died. End of story."

Derek wrinkled his lip in disgust. "You died too, idiot. How's that for karma?"

Alex flipped him off as the girl who'd protested being high earlier took her turn introducing herself. "I'm Serenity. College junior, majoring in the fashion industry and minoring in the arts." She spoke calmly and clearly. She must have been a confident person while she was alive. She prodded the suicidal-looking girl with a well-manicured nail.

"Oh," Suicide-girl spoke softly, "I'm Shanaia. I'm eighteen and I was orphaned a day or so before I got here. Um." She looked uncomfortable. "…Todd? Did you notice that you have a little girl behind you?" Todd spun around, his eyes growing wide and his jaw dropping open as he spotted his hitchhiker.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "She's a cutie! Do you know her?" She was a small child with glossy long black hair and chopped bangs, big blue eyes, and rosy cheeks.

"Yeah, I know her. I died trying to save her from a fire. All of the exits were blocked though, and I guess…Actually, I don't know what to think." He shook his head. "I can't figure out how she would have gotten here."

Serenity tilted her head back, trying to rationalize it out. "Maybe she held onto you while your soul separated from your body and she ended up coming with?"

"Sounds plausible," he mused. "Either way, she's here. Now what?"

"Now, you all should quit thinking about bothersome things and start thinking about how you're going to survive in this world. Sound good?" I jumped at the sound of a new voice and spun to face the new girl at the side of the room. A girl was leaning nonchalantly against the wall, waiting to be noticed.

"Hey, Sarah!" Derek grinned. I wonder if him and Sarah were a thing back on earth, by the way he was gazing at her. She was a thin, slightly muscled girl with a blonde bob haircut. "You cut your hair?"

"I'm here to help you figure out how not to die, and you care about my hair?" She glared sparingly at him. "After getting dragged and thrown around by it a few times, I decided that it wasn't worth the hassle.

"First things first. I'm an advisor to you all from this point on. Everyone, take one of these beeper pins and push it through your skin wherever you want to, as long as it's easily accessible. You'll bleed. Too bad. Suck it up and do it. It's important for your continued existence."

Shanaia was the first to grab a pin, puncturing her wrist as she slid the device below her skin. She winced as the blood oozed out around the pin. We all winced with her with the exception of Alex who grabbed one and positioned it behind his ear. He never flinched. Brenda growled under her breath and snatched up hers, steeling herself for the pain. She pushed it through the center of her palm. How can she do that when she's the more squeamish one around blood? I stared at the dwindling pile of pins in Sarah's hand. Something about them makes my skin crawl at the thought of pushing one through my skin. Everyone else grabbed their pin, including myself. It felt wrong in my hand. Derek pushed his pin into his muscular upper arm. Todd closed his eyes and forced his into his thigh where his hand would rest in a standing position. Serenity took a deep breath and stubbed hers right below her right collarbone. Even the little girl bucked up and forced hers into the palm of her hand without tears. I just stared at the pin. What is wrong with me? Needles never bothered me back home, in fact, I thought they were cool. So why can't I wrap my head around the idea of sticking this chunk of metal into my body?

"What's wrong, honey-bun?" Brenda asked, her voice a soft whisper.

"I don't know. I just can't get my mind to accept the idea of forcing this foreign piece of metal into my skin."

Alex growled at me in impatience. I flicked him off. A muscle in his jaw twitched and he stormed towards me. I held up my hands in a defensive position to fend him off, but he snatched the pin from my hand and told me to suck it up. He grabbed my wrist like he intended to shove it through my arm, and I twisted away. Unfortunately, he faked me out. When I twisted away, it put me in a perfect position for him to smash it through the skin on my hipbone. My teeth clenched in pain as my brain flashed and turned fuzzy. I blacked out for a moment.

When I came to, I felt different.

The world was a different color. And a different size.

Why is everyone looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with me?

I squinted down at myself. I seem rather furry. I have paws. I glanced behind me. I have a tail. A tail? I laughed in disbelief, but it came out in a ferocious roar. Everyone around me flinched. I was a lioness. I grinned at them, which I realized later probably looked like I was about to eat them all alive. I tried to walk, but having four legs is rather different from having two and I tripped, landing hard on my chin. I winced and swiped my paw across my face in embarrassment.

Brenda laughed. "Yep. It's still Cally." I reminded myself to get revenge on her later for that uncalled for statement.

I looked to Sarah for advice on what to do now. As much fun as it was being an African queen of the jungle, I wanted to be able to talk to humans again. As I turned towards Sarah, she spoke to me as she shuffled through the sheets she held in her hand. I hadn't noticed that she was carrying anything before.

"Shape shifting…Shape shifting…Ah!" She paused on a particular page, her finger running down the sheet. "If you want to get back to a human form, if you injure yourself just enough that you bleed you should change back. You changed in the first place because someone else made you bleed."

I nodded and exhaled. Closing my eyes, I bit down on my foreleg. This time I stayed conscious for the change of shape. The feeling is hard to describe if you haven't experienced it, but I'll try my best. It was like I was becoming free yet grounded by the ripping, tearing pain spreading across my body from the bottoms of my feet to the top of my head. When the change finished and I could breathe again, I sat back on my heels.

"Well, that was interesting," I said, still having some difficulty breathing.

"Why isn't she naked?" Serenity asked innocently. I glared at her bitterly and she put up her hands defensively. "I'm just voicing the thoughts of those immature, hormonal, high school boys over there. Don't kill the messenger." Derek and Todd blushed a dark cherry red while Alex rolled his eyes, completely unashamed. Sarah frowned at us both.

"What's is it with this group? Can't you lot all just get along?" Sarah snapped.

"Look, when you put eight people in a room together with conflicting personalities, you should have foreseen this," murmured Shanaia. By now, Serenity and I were yelling unintelligible things at each other while Brenda tried to calm me down and Alex smirked.

Sarah sighed and shook her head. "Hey."

Everyone kept squabbling.

"Hey!"

No response.

"EVERYBODY LISTEN UP!" She screamed over the hubbub. I twitched in surprise and turned towards her as everybody else followed suit. "Look, it's my job to try to keep as many of you alive as I can for as long as I can. Okay? But you guys have to listen to me for that to work, got it?"

There was a general mumbling of approval and acceptance and she nodded briskly and clapped her hands. "Good." She glanced down at the floor, back up to our faces, and did a double take glance back down to the floor. "Um. Todd? Exactly what is that child playing with?"

I glanced at the child. She seemed to be playing with a reptile of some sort, but when it turned its head, it revealed its face, which was covered in thousands of beady eyes and a leech-like mouth.

"Kitty?" The girl smiled an innocent, beaming grin.

"Um, no, dear, kitties are fluffier," Sarah choked out.

"Oh? Like this?" The child clapped her hands and a fluffy version of the monstrosity appeared beside the first creature and started chattering at us angrily.

"Um, sweetie?" Now the two creatures were stalking Serenity's feet and hissing. "Can you make them stop that?"

"Bad kitties!" The child scolded the monsters, clasped her fingers, and smiled as they disappeared. Sarah's jaw dropped open and she shuffled through her stack of papers with a confused and wondering look.

"How is she…She wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. I don't understand how she can have any powers whatsoever. Oh." She paused. "It appears that your powers and her powers switched. You were intended to have the power to summon any creature you could imagine. Her powers…Well, they're rather different than the one you were intending to receive. I am not at liberty to tell you what they are until you discover them for yourself, though. My apologies."

"Oh, like you actually care," Serenity complained. "What's up with you that you're so invested in this game, anyway?"

"Well, I can do this, or I can die," she stated matter-of-factly.

"That's a lovely prospect," I muttered. She looked at me and I continued. "Who, exactly, is going to kill you?"

"One of the game master's minions, I suppose. They didn't clarify that point, other than to tell me that it would be harmful to my health if I didn't comply to their rules and demands."

I sighed. Everything here was about pain, fear, and death. I cringe at what horrors come to my mind when I imagine the worst possible scenarios. Glancing over at Brenda, it appears she is following the same thought process as me, or something similar. At least I have her here to make sure I don't kill myself by something stupid.


	7. Chapter 7: Powers and Shinigami

Chapter Two-Brenda's POV

It seems as though I'm one of the few people in this room with a solid head on her shoulders. Splendid. Cally is going to be the death of me, with the things she gets involved in. I can already tell that Cally is going to like this world. She can be even more childish, wild, and violent than she was on Earth. I shook my head and tuned back into what Sarah was talking about. She was saying something about it would be a good idea to figure out what the rest of us can do as soon as possible. Frankly, I agree with her. The more people figure out their powers, the more likely we are to survive. Well, we've got two people with powers, and more to come. Cally's got shape shifting, and the girl-child has the power to summon things. The demon from earlier mentioned something about our gifts being based off of our qualities from earth. Why would Cally want to be a shapeshifter? What quality or wish gave that power to her? My train of thought stopped short as a thought occurred to me. What if she can't control it very well? What if she turns into a spider when we need an elephant? Knowing her, she'll test every possibility as soon as she can, but before that what will she do? Of course, she wouldn't be testing it out because it's necessary. She'd test it out because of her own stupid curiosity. I should try to tune back into the conversation, I suppose. Something I learn today could save my life later in this game.

Alex was fighting with Derek over how to go about figuring out their gifts. Words were flying back and forth like bullets and tempers were rising. Again. Things escalated quickly, to the point where Alex picked up a chair and threw it at Derek, snapping something about 'seeing if you can defend against this.' I gasped and threw out my hands. We might not be able to kill each other, but we can still severely injure each other. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable crash, but it didn't come. I peeked through my tightly closed eyelids and gulped. The chair was hanging in midair a few inches from Derek's face.

Cally's jaw dropped. "Oh, okay. That's cool. Telekinesis. No big deal."

"It's not telekinesis," Sarah corrected her. "She has the power to create force fields and something else, but she hasn't figured out the second part, yet."

"That's very nice and all, but can you set the chair down, now, please? I'd like to be able to move," Derek said, poking the chair. It had trapped him against the wall, and he was looking mighty uncomfortable.

"Oh, right! Sorry," I apologized to Derek, wincing as I set down the chair, somehow.

"Um, it's all good. I think."

As I released him, he seemed to disappear for a moment, reappearing in front of Alex. One moment the wall was a solid mass, the next moment there was dust in the air and a crater in the wall from Derek's fist. He jerked his hand from the crumbling wall and backed off.

"Quit messing with me," Derek hissed angrily. "Okay? It'll work out better for you in the long run."

"And if I refuse your, oh-so-kind offer? I don't see the value in listening to a prick like you."

I grit my teeth, knowing that the manly bellow of rage that only comes when someone insults their male genitals was about to nearly break my eardrums. Yep. Yep. Right on cue, Derek roared and charged towards Alex. Alex braced for impact, a strange confidence in his gaze. I saw something change in his eyes, but I couldn't hold onto it long enough for me to ascertain what exactly it meant. I closed my eyes to block out the impact. The booming sound of impact rang out across the room, but it was a deeper pitch than I anticipated. Opening my eyes, I found myself staring directly at an elephant's behind. A rather large elephant, if I might add. How has the room not collapsed under its weight? Oh, yeah. Demon home. It's probably not a normal house. I was jarred out of my semi-crazed inner-monologue by Serenity's piercing incredulous laugh.

"Well, I guess that means you have control over what you can turn into," she smiled, twirling a knife between her fingers. I eyed the knife and noted the slight stream of blood dribbling off of the blade. There was a stab wound on the elephants forefoot, which I assume came from Serenity's knife.

"She's going to look like a cutter very quickly, isn't she?" I asked Serenity.

"I'd say so. Hey, is she okay?" She answered, staring at Cally. If elephants could wince, this one was trying. I assume getting punched by a guy with super-strength hurts no matter what form you're in.

"You okay?" I asked her, hoping the punch hadn't broken her too badly. She huffed at me good-naturedly. "You should probably change back, now."

"How exactly can an elephant hurt herself?" Serenity muttered curiously. We ogled Cally as she jabbed her tusk into the open knife wound, opening it further as more blood gushed out in pulsing waves. I think I'm going to be sick. She changed back quickly and rubbed the swiftly purpling bruise on her shoulder and cringed.

"I'm fine, Brenda. Quit worrying. I'm as good as I can be. I figured elephants have tougher skin than most animals, yet still has enough elasticity to deflect most of the blow. I was right, but…"

"But what?"

"But it still hurts like hell!"

"Did you expect it not to?"

"Maybe a little bit," she muttered. Derek rushed over to her, freaking out over the fact that he'd just punched a girl. She waved him away, but he kept apologizing with a horrified look on his face. Finally she ignored him and turned towards Alex. "What's up with you? We all need to work together, despite what happened on Earth. We're here now, and we need to be able to depend on each other. We need to try to not severely injure each other, all right?"

"Hey, why are you getting all upset? Thanks to me, we figured out that Derek's gift is super strength and super speed," he retorted.

"Throwing a chair at someone is not a way to figure that out," Serenity cut in.

"Maybe not on earth, but the rules here are different. We each can play by our own rules, and everyone else will just have to deal with it. Eat or be eaten, if you will."

I sat there, wishing I could make everyone calm down. We need self-assurance, but some of them, specifically Alex and Cally, could use less of it. Cally needs a sedative, not a confidence-boost. If she believed in herself any more than she already did, she'd end up breaking herself more than she already did. Why do I always feel like a mother with a small child?

Cally was still talking. "You could have at least thanked me."

"Why would I do that, when I could have dealt with him myself?"

She laughed harshly. "Oh, yeah? You and what impenetrable shield?"

Alex rolled his eyes and turned his body away from her, pointedly ignoring her. She stuck out her tongue at him and made a face.

Sarah jumped and winced, covering her left ear like she had heard something loud. "Well, guys, it's been great, but I have to go. Your shinigami are almost here. So far, what we've accomplished is figuring out all of Derek's powers, all of Cally's powers, all of Lydia's powers, and one of Brenda's powers. I wish the rest of you luck in figuring out the rest of the powers. Remember to contact me through your pins." Without even a goodbye, she disappeared.

"I have a feeling that sort of thing is going to happen a lot," said Todd with a dry tone. After she disappeared, I wandered over to Cally. She was trying to stanch the flow of blood running from her arm.

"That's the third time in the last hour that you've cut up your arm. Hopefully we can find something to bind it up with before you die slowly of blood loss," I worried over her arm, moving it around to make sure that nothing was broken and that things weren't ripped too badly.

"Here, use this." I glanced up to see Todd looming over both of us. He'd taken his shirt off and was handing it to me. I hadn't noticed before, but he really was quite muscular. I shook myself out of the lustful haze I'd suddenly been blindsided by when he came up close.

"Oh, thank you. Would you mind tearing it into strips about two inches wide?" I gestured with my hands to the size I meant as I tried to hide the blush spreading across my cheeks. He nodded and went neatly and speedily about it.

I heard Alex scoffing in the background. "Why're you guys helping her? She did it to herself." I felt my temper rising, but as I was about to give him a piece of my mind, I glanced back down where Cally had been a moment ago. Uh oh.

Alex flew back against the wall from Cally's calculated haymaker to his shoulder. She'd gone from meekly licking her wounds to full-attack mode in two seconds flat. When she gets angry, her adrenaline levels increase to a slightly higher level than what might be considered normal. She doesn't usually get into non-sanctioned fights, but Alex was asking for it. The boy was cradling his shoulder as she began to speak quietly.

"Just because we can't kill each other doesn't mean that I can't or won't cause you severe pain. Please stop bothering me. I'll do likewise." Blood from Cally's unbound arm had sprayed across Alex's forehead and hair with the punch, dying his nearly white blond hair with splatters of crimson. He spat at her, and his spittle landed on her leg. He reached up with his arm to yank her off her feet, but she danced backwards, avoiding his grip. He hopped back to a standing position and kicked out at her, but I put a force field in his way and the only thing he ended up hurting was himself. Cally stuck out her tongue at him, goading him, and I hit her lightly over her head.

"Sit back down, idiot. If you two keep fighting, I'll encase you both in your own bubble." I forced her to sit down and resumed bandaging her arm with the strips of Todd's shirt. When I tied off the last strip, Cally tested her range of movement in her arm. I turned to thank Todd again for the use of his shirt. He'd kept quiet after volunteering his accouterment and he tried to entertain the little one in the meantime. I guess he's good with children, because she'd fallen asleep in his arms.

"Do you know what her name is?" I inquired softly.

He pondered my question for a moment. "It's Emma…or is it Lydia? I'm not sure. It's one of those two."

Serenity glanced judgingly down at Todd. "Is it good that you're letting her fall asleep like that? I'm not sure we want her to be comfortable in a place she's probably going to end up being murdered in. Alert is better, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'm terribly sorry for making sure a small child would be as comfortable as she could be," he intoned sarcastically, raising his eyebrows condescendingly. "I mean, it's only natural for a child to see chairs flying, walls crumbling, and, oh, yeah! I almost forgot this one; people changing into animals. Completely normal, right?"

"Well, she's going to have to get used to it soon. She'll probably end up seeing people die, so she might as well get used to insanity now. We don't have any clue what this demon plane is like. It could screw her up permanently."

"I'll do everything in my power to make sure that won't happen," he spat.

"That might not be enough here," she stated bluntly, stopping as seven beings trailed through a hole in the wall that hadn't been there before. I assumed they were our shinigami. Only one looked human, and she raced over to Todd. They must have known each other from before, as Todd seemed to relax as soon as she'd arrived. A sudden thought popped into my fried brain. Is the girl, whom I've decided is Lydia, their love-child? No, wait. He didn't know the child's name. But maybe the girl had left Todd the child just before they'd died? Lydia doesn't look anything like either of them, though. Look at me, behaving like a soap housewife desperate for drama. I shifted my weight to my left side. Either way: Todd and the girl were friends, and Lydia is one of the cutest little girls I've ever seen.

One of the shinigami drifted over to me. She was one of the shinigami I'd seen the day I'd died. Now that I get a better look at her, she looked quite child-like. Behind that innocent face, I felt a power radiating from every pore on her body. As for appearances, she had fiery red hair and emerald eyes. Nothing about her was average. She was about the size of the length of my arm from my elbow to my palm.

"What, are you the death goddess of carrots or something? What's with all the orange?" I asked, noting the orange outfit complete with a sparkly ginger skirt, peach stilettos, and an orange chain necklace with a little carrot charm.

She gave me a snide look. "No, actually. I'm _your_ shinigami, and I heard you liked carrots, so here I am, decked out in orange."

By now, tears of laughter were coursing down my cheeks while I tried to hold back my laughter. "I-I do, but-"

"But not to that extent?"

I took a breath to calm myself. The others in the room were giving me weird looks. "Exactly. What happened to your form from when I died? You looked more…'normal' then," I asked.

She immediately brightened. "You like that form better?"

"Sure," I nodded. Plus, I wasn't sure how much longer I could talk with her without breaking down into chaotic giggles again if she stayed in that orange overloaded form.

Tossing her head, her form wavered and she morphed into a less conspicuously shaped shinigami. Now she had shimmering topaz eyes, straight, fox-red hair, and a black robe.

"I feel better this way. Also, it conserves power."

"Win-win situation, then," I grinned. "What exactly to shinigami do for us?"

"We help you survive. Simple as that."

"Very descriptive," I noted.

"Anything else, you'll have to learn over time. Ooh! It's almost circle time!" She squealed, reminding me of another idiot in this room. How is Cally doing, anyway? I glanced in her direction as my shinigami, whom I believe is named Jaz, wandered away. She was actually silent and listening to someone for once. In fact, her face was so focused on her male shinigami that they could have been statues if the shinigami's mouth hadn't been moving. The shinigami had black hair and dark coal eyes along with his chiseled bone structure. He looked like he could have been someone in a commanding position if he'd been human. He was about the same size as Jaz.

Speaking of whom, she was back in my space.

"Is that your friend? You know one of you and probably both of you will die horrible deaths, right? Why do you want to care for someone who is only going to be a burden to you?"

"Human attachments that were formed on Earth, I suppose. Who's her shinigami?"

"Who, James? He's a very straightforward type. No nonsense. He rarely caters to his gamer's whims," she confided to me in a whisper. That's nice. I can let someone else mother her for a bit.

"Your name is Jaz, right?" I wanted to confirm my memory from my death. "I thought I heard James call you that when you took us from our bodies."

She giggled, "Correctomundo! I'm Jessie. Feel free to call me Jaz, Jazzy, Jess, or any other name you can think of." She floated down to the floor in a spiral motion and patted the ground, motioning for me to sit next to her. "Come on, circle time is starting. We get to hear from everyone else. Sit in a circle. It's, like, story time. Okay?" Flitting away, she gathered the rest of the group of mortals and shinigami. I get the feeling that they're not quite immortal. Jaz half-guided, half-forced the beings to form some semblance of a circle in the center of the room. After herding everyone together, she plunked her tiny body down in front of me and began to speak.

"Welcome, everyone, to the fifteenth bi-centenial Game. Or, as we lovingly call it, the Murder Trials."

"Very original," Todd murmured, earning himself a whack on the head from his shinigami. He glared at her and rubbed his head as Jaz gave him the stink eye and continued.

"We should all get to know each other, all right?" She continued, fiddling with the corner of her shirt. "I'm Jessie. I answer to almost anything, though, like Jaz, Jess, Z.Z, et cetera. I'm Brenda's shinigami. It's nice to meet all of you new gamers. Fun fact about myself: my favorite thing to eat is chocolate."

"Me too!" Cally exclaimed, grinning at Jaz and flinching away from James' glare. She sat back, slightly cowed by his disapproval. I guess she respects him, or something close to respects him.

"Next!" Jaz called.

James cleared his throat. "My name is James." He had a really deep voice, which somehow wasn't as comical as I thought it could have been, coming from such a little body. "My player is Cally, and other than that nothing is necessary to share." His face was surprisingly handsome and showed intelligence in his cold, calculating eyes. Cally stuck out her tongue at him behind his back. I take back what I said about her respecting him. I shook my head and smiled. Cally hadn't changed.

The next shinigami had light blond shaggy hair, a neutral green outfit, and a black eye patch covering one eye with the other eye being a brilliant emerald color. He looked sort of like a ninja. He smiled gently at the circle.

"I'm Rouge, Shanaia's shinigami. Um, what I like…Hmm. Well, I like music. Quite a lot, really." He smiled kindly. He seemed nice, I suppose. Normal, to say the very least. I turned to see Cally's reaction to him. I don't know how better to explain it, but I 'felt' Cally's mood tense. Her face didn't betray the sudden jolt, but it was there, nonetheless. No one else saw anything change in her, it seems. Rouge nodded for the next person in the circle to introduce themselves, and that was that.

The next shinigami was a mousy little thing, no pun intended, considering that she had teensy little mouse ears poking out of her wavy pale purple hair. She was absolutely adorable, and she looked completely defenseless, although I assume that is not the case, considering that she's a Shinigami in the Game. Serenity patted her head, careful to avoid smacking her ears. "This is Mia. She's kind of shy, so be nice to her!" Serenity smiled encouragingly at her. Mia slowly raised her hand in greeting and retreated to sit on Serenity's shoulder and hide in her hair. She whispered into Serenity's ear. Whatever she'd said gave Serenity cause to agree and give the room a conspiratorial look.

"So, so, I'm next!" Alex's shinigami looked as though she'd explode through her skin any minute from the amount of energy she had. "I'm Briana. This is my first time being a Game Shinigami, and I'm super pumped to see some blood n' guts!" She cheered, throwing her royal purple hair every which way, light glinting off of the pink sparkles in her hair. I chuckled to myself. I'm sure Alex will love having her as a partner. Briana ducked a swipe from Derek's Shinigami and stuck out her tongue at her.

"Please forgive my sister for her boisterousness. It's Briana's first time here, so she doesn't know how to curb her enthusiasm yet," Derek's shinigami apologized with a monotone voice.

"Well, they are pretty vicious. Y'all humans get torn into pieces, bit by bloody bit. It starts to mess with your head after a while, and the chaos that ensues is quite entertaining." She grinned, baring her shark-like teeth.

"Oh, please. Quite messing with them, Bri," the Shinigami perched on Derek's leg tsked. "I'm Claire. Claire Sawyer. Me'n Briana once were humans like you lot and Kelsey, but Bri was a stillborn babe and she ended up here when she died. I died when I was seven when I got run over by a truck." She peeled back her bangs to show off a garish scar on her head. Her hair was a shade of brown with a reddish sheen and her eyes were a deep shade of grey. "She's exaggerating the level of violence you all will go through. I've been in five murder trials, and only some of you will die violent deaths. The rest are rather quick, but not painless, as I regret to inform you." She smiled as if that not all of us will be torn into pieces was supposed to be a comfort to us.

"Well, I feel like a pig lead to slaughter," Serenity muttered.

"Since when do pigs have superpowers to protect them?" Alex mocked her.

She glared at him. "Hey, at least I don't look like one." He snarled at her, reacting to her very childish and not well thought out insult.

"_Before_ a fight breaks out," Todd's Shinigami broke into the conversation. "I'm Kelsey. Todd's friend from back on Earth and his 'helper.' This is my first Murder Trials, and probably my last, as I'm only here to partner up with Todd. Luckily for Todd, I'm not an idiot, regardless of this Game being my first."

"Hey!" Briana snapped.

"Did I name you? No. So shush." Kelsey growled at her. She turned to Alex and said, "You better be good at taking care of yourself, Alex, because I don't think she'll be much help." She glanced around, realizing that she sounded bitchy. "I'm sorry for sounding rude, but after spending too much time with her on the demon plane, she grates on my nerves. I'm different from the other Shinigami because I can enter or inhabit someone's body by way of their mouth, I can drag people with me through walls or into the air, and I can make people invisible by just touching them." She turned abruptly to Todd. "You. I know something about your powers, but I don't quite understand. The higher ups told me to tell you that your powers and Lydia's powers switched in the transition. So if you can figure out what types of powers Lydia would have wanted, you might be able to figure out what you've got."

"Is there a way we can trade back? This doesn't seem like the ideal situation."

"Nope," Kelsey shook her head. "You both are stuck this way until you die here." Kelsey pointed to the girl whom had just woken up. "She doesn't seem to mind." Lydia had created a tusked version of the 'kitty' from earlier. Alex inched away from Lydia. Cally noticed and snorted in a very unladylike manner.

"What, are you scared of things with tusks?" She turned to the rest of us. "He's going to be such a weak link! What happens if one of the trials or demons has tusks? He runs screaming back to us so we get killed by the hordes of demons following him? Or maybe he'd beg it to take his life swiftly and get it over with. Ha!" She mocked him. Alex hissed at her and turned his body away so he wouldn't be looking at her head on. Oh, Cally, please grow up soon. You really shouldn't provoke him.

"She's right, though, you know. This world feeds on your fears and twists them into horrors beyond your imagination. If you freeze up at the wrong time, you could be the death of everyone around you, including yourselves. Never let your guard down, and never expect anything, but always expect anything. Things can always get worse, and beautiful things are often the most dangerous things alive," Rouge warned us.

"So, for example, if I hated cats," I asked curiously, "I'd probably end up having to fight a giant mutated cat?"

"Or something of the ilk. But, that's not what you're afraid of, is it," Claire responded.

I laughed. "No, but I'm not about to share any of my fears with this group of people. I'm not an idiot."

"But Brenda! I thought your fear was that all carrots would shrivel up and die?" Cally joked, bringing a smile to my face. I'd frozen for a second, thinking that she might actually say something that I didn't want known. She's not that dumb, usually. I have faith in her.

"Of course, you child. Of course." Bless her for changing the subject from my fears to her crazy antics. A beeping noise came somewhere from Derek and Claire's spot, and Claire began digging in her pockets to uncover a cellular-looking device from her pocket.

"Claire here. What can I do for you?" She nodded a few times, as though whoever she was talking to could see it then snapped closed the communicator. "Your new house for the next few months or years until most of you die off is ready," she explained. I'll give you all of your room assignments when we get there. Come on." She pointed to the wall as a door appeared behind Todd. He jumped, startled.

"My bad."


	8. Chapter 8: Entering a Hellish Place

It's been awhile, my loves! Thanks to all of you who've continued reading. I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it is one of my favorites. Review or Message me, both will be reciprocated!

* * *

Chapter Three-Cally's POV

* * *

That kid Todd sprang up from his spot on the wall when a door appeared. The rest of us gamers all quickly followed suit, but stopped in our tracks when James held up his hand for us to wait. He cleared his throat meaningfully at Jessie. Her eyes widened, and she motioned for Claire to close the door, which I was trying to peek out of. Claire obliged, nearly clipping my nose with the door.

"Pause, everyone," James commanded. "If you go into our world looking cute and defenseless at the same time, you'll be dead in under a hour. Jessie here is going to disguise you all to look more demon-like and less naive.

"How do I look naive?" I scowled. Brenda gave me a look like, 'are you kidding me, hon?'

"You're the worst of them all," James intoned, answering me. "I wouldn't be surprised if you had an 'eat me' sign on your back like in that human view of the demon world known as Wonderland. Jessie, could you help her, please?"

"Of course I can! It's a part of my job description!" She huffed at him, then leapt over Brenda to land on my leg. Grabbing my hand, she bit me lightly enough that it wouldn't bleed and send me into the pain of changing into an animal. I closed my eyes as I felt a cushion of air pocket around me.

"What do you think?"

I opened my eyes as Jaz handed me a mirror. I stared into the mirror in apprehension.

"Is that really me?" I couldn't believe it. I touched my face, and the girl in the mirror reciprocated instantly. "It's really me," I breathed in shock. My long, slightly frizzy blond locks were a distant memory. I had shiny, silky black hair with bangs cutting across one eye. My shockingly blue eyes had been changed to the color of tempered steel and my ears were slightly pointed. As I shifted my weight, I noticed that something else had changed. My C-cup sized boobs had grown to d-cup size proportions. Luckily they didn't feel too heavy. My clothes had changed, as well. I was wearing black stilettos, a tight, black mini, and a midriff-baring black shirt with leather lacing up the sides of the shirt and the sleeves. I had a grey belt with a few studs and a pair of what seemed to be Gucci shades. I actually look sexy!

"Since you're one of the more naïve people in this group, you need an appearance to counter that. You now look like a succubus," Claire explained.

"I always thought succubi would have wings and tails," I pouted.

"You might be eaten by a demon in five minutes," James began, "and you're worried that you don't have wings or a tail?"

"Yup."

He sighed and rubbed his temples in exasperation.  
"If you really want them, Cally, then add them yourself. I'll freeze them to your current form so you won't have to add them every time you shape shift out of human form. Then you won't have to expend extra energy to keep them there, either," Brenda's shinigami, informed me.

Now I just had to find a way to get someone to injure me. I glanced towards Brenda first, but she hates blood and she already doesn't like that I'm going to look like a hard-core cutter. I scanned the rest of the room and my eyes fell on Alex. An idea formed in my head and I grabbed a small pebble in my hand from the space just outside of the door. I felt its rough edges in my palm and grinned, chucking it at Alex, who deflected it right back towards me. I let it graze my arm and make the barest of incisions. I smiled evilly at him as I felt myself fall into the sickening feeling of changing. This time I'll control it further. I centered my body and drew in my breathing, picturing the forms of the tail and wings I wanted to add to my body. I blinked, losing my concentration as something swished over my face. I cheered inwardly as I grasped the black, soft devil-type tail and large bat wings I'd added. I cracked my tail like a whip dramatically and laughed maniacally.

"Nope, you're right," Claire murmured to James. "She won't have a problem fitting in as a succubus.

I grinned at them, baring my teeth. Oh, I am going to enjoy this. James and Brenda rolled their eyes in sync with each other. James, out of his usual exasperation with me, and Brenda out of knowing I'd probably take my job as a succubus way too far. As usual.

"Shanaia, you're next. You look…not average, per say, but vulnerable. Jessie, do your thing," Claire commanded.

Jessie scowled. "Really, I know what I'm doing. You don't need to direct me."

"Then get to it, already."

Jessie glowered at her again and moved over to Shania, poking her in her knee. Shania shivered and closed her eyes as her brown hair grew and turned pin-straight and pure white. Her clothes morphed into an elegant white dress. Her mouth opened in a yawn to reveal four sharp canines as her bone structure became sharper. When everything settled, she opened her eyes, which had turned blood red, yet remained somewhat gentle. She was breathtakingly beautiful. When she was shown her appearance in the mirror, she merely smiled.

"Vampires do exist, I assume," she noted quietly.

Jessie turned towards Brenda after nodding to Shanaia. "You already look like a grey-demon, what with your blue-grey eyes and silver hair. All I'm going to add to you are a pair of tattered grey wings. Try not to smile too much in public, though, or you'll be seen through in an instant," she warned her.

Brenda fingered her newfound appendages and beamed. "They're gorgeous. Thank you."

Jessie acknowledged her gratitude and kicked Derek, turning his eyes red.

"Growl at me," she commanded.

"Rawr?"

She sighed and shook her head. "We'll work on it. Try to match your voice to this." She closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and growled. The growl built within her chest until it came bursting out of her mouth with such ferocity I thought she would kill us all. All of us humans sat stupefied and slightly fearful.

"Now try again," she commanded Derek.

The new growl he let out was a sort of gravelly bellow. She slapped her forehead with her hand and moved on, leaving Derek with a few last words of wisdom. "I will teach you the art of growling. It comes in very handy. All you needed is the red eyes to complete your demonizing since you already look like an angry enough guy."

"Thanks…I think."

"Anytime. Serenity?"

"Yes?" Serenity sat up attentively.

"Partly thanks to your blue hair, you're fine the way you are," Jaz started, pausing as Serenity deflated. It seems she was looking forward to changing her look.

I butted in. "Think of it this way; you're pretty enough and experienced enough for the demon world."

"Why, thank you, Cally! That's the nicest thing you've said to me all day!"

"I don't plan on making it a habit."

Jessie was moving on to Alex, so we stopped conversing to see how he'd evolve. Jessie flicked his arm; he winced and snarled, showing off his curved and sharpened canines that were now pointed and gleaming. His ears stretched and pointed while his nails grew into talons.

"You're disguised as an elf. They're known for their famously bad temper and sarcastic, sadistic nature. So, you're welcome to snap at people to your heart's content." Jaz grinned. "It took me a while to figure out if you should do better as a fairy or an elf."

Alex snarled at Jaz, "Are you trying to mock me?"

"I'd say she succeeded," I muttered under my breath. He turned on me and I tensed, ready to deflect the blow I assumed would come. He tightened his fists and turned away from me. His jaw tightened, showing control that I could have easily broken if I prodded him further.

Jaz came up to Lydia.

"I didn't know that there were demon children," I mumbled.

"Idiot," Serenity snorted. "How else would they reproduce? Cloning?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of asexual reproduction," I snapped, "but I'm sure someone like you has no idea what I'm talking about. It must be so depressing to be a simpleton. Oh, I'm sorry, do you know what a simpleton is? It means simple people. People with not much knowledge. Kind of like yourself!"

"Funny how exact you have that definition memorized. Have to look it up recently?"

I grit my teeth. "You're a real bitch, y'know that?"

"I'd rather be a bitch than a pretentious idiot."

Oh, I hate this girl.

"If you two are finished," Jessie began.

Serenity glared at me and scowled. I scowled right back. I'm in no mood for her bull.

"Yeah," we muttered in sync.

She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on Lydia's shoulders, staring directly into her face. The child stared back fearlessly, almost curiously, at the shinigami. Jessie drew her fingers along Lydia's collarbone. Lydia's skin grew paler and paler as Jessie's hands glided over her skin. It finally stopped changing when it was as white as fine porcelain.

"You shall be hidden as one of the Nameless ones. They're made of the most powerful demons in the entire realm. Only the most powerful demons can summon other demons, let alone create them. It'll work perfectly for you," Jessie explained while removing her hands from Lydia's neck. Lydia just giggled and smiled. Obviously, she could adapt to anything, anywhere, any time. How handy.

"The last one up is Todd," Kelsey informed us.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Kels," Todd muttered under his breath.

"Any time," she said sweetly as he rolled his eyes.

Jessie smiled and placed one hand on Todd's forehead. Time seemed to pause before light exploded out of Jessie's hand and Todd's forehead. Jessie started screaming in pain and tore her hand away like it had been severely burned. She held her arm by her wrist as the skin on her palm writhed, tore, and continued burning. Still shrieking, she dropped to the ground as we all looked on in shock. Todd looked the most confused of all. Jessie stopped twisting around on the floor and clamped her teeth together in a fierce clack. She breathed deep, labored breaths and closed her eyes, focusing her concentration on stopping the mutating skin on her hand. When it finally stopped moving, it went back to normal, but it was an angry red color. Brenda gasped at the end of it all.

"Oh my gosh! Todd! What? Look at yourself!" Brenda was having a minor freak out moment.

"Huh?"

"Pick up the mirror and look!"

He shrugged and complied, glancing once more worriedly at Jessie. She seemed to be recovering speedily. As he looked in the mirror, his eyes grew wide. Inky black tattoos spread over his body from his fingers to his neck, and I imagine that they were on his legs and torso as well. The only place they didn't touch was his face. The tattoos looked vine-like, with branches and leaves.

"Whoa…" He gripped his wrist, looking at the new development. The vines seemed to be pulsing and moving under his skin like snakes.

"Cool…" I breathed.

"Um, ouch," Jessie complained. "Why didn't you warn me that you had some demon blood in you? This type of appearance change doesn't work on your kind. It's super painful for those of us who try!"

"I'd have warned you if I'd known. I'm sorry," he mumbled, still awed at his new "tattoos." "What do you mean, I have demon blood?"

"I mean, that somewhere along the way in your family, someone mated with a demon and had your ancestor. You could see ghosts, right? That was a bi-product of the demon blood in you." Jessie nodded to Claire, who then grinned and beckoned our group out of the door and into the demon realm.

Lydia trundled after her, trying to grab Jessie out of the air. Jessie swatted Lydia's hand away, making her all the more determined to catch the floating lady. Jessie sighed and keot moving, always staying a step ahead of the girl. The rest of us followed after Claire, since she appeared to know where we're going.

The demon plane was everything and nothing I expected.

"It'll take you a while to get used to the view here," James remaked. "While it looks like it doesn't make sense and isn't solid, it is a reality and can hurt you at any time. Stay on guard."

"Thanks for the warning. I think I'll remember it."

"You'd better. And try not to be the first to die, could you?"

"I'll do my best."

The cityscape outside was magnificent and horrible all in one. A monster was chomping on a winged torso of another not quite dead demon and in the same moment a gremlin was helping a bug-like demon across the street before "Buggy" seemed to develop a craving for gremlin flesh. Brenda, Shanaia, and I all winced; Alex and Serenity outright cackled. Todd shook his head and covered Lydia's eyes. Derek rolled his eyes and kept walking, his shinigami in close quarters. Besides the inhabitants, this alien landscape was more beautiful than any I'd ever seen on earth. The sky was a crimson red that held a moon dripping black blood. Everything else was the same color as the human world; the trees were still green and brown, and water was still clear. I guess I should take comfort in the small things, but I would have preferred things to be a bit more different so I wouldn't be so automatically comfortable here.

"Okay, here is where we all split up. Shinigami, take your players in hand and show them the sights. You each are to take a different path home. Try not to get eaten, all right?" Claire commanded. "C'mon Derek." The pair left, and the rest of us were left wondering where to go.

Jas pursed her lips and led Brenda away without so much as a goodbye. Never one to be left behind, Brianna grabbed Alex by his ear and dragged him down a path while he swatted at her, trying to dislodge the death grip she had on his ear. James was next to make a move. I turned my head and waved to the remaining gamers as he guided me away from the other gamers. I'm sure I'll see them soon enough, anyway. James was leading me down what appeared to be a main street. Sales-demons called out to potential customers in many harsh languages. At least, they seemed to be different languages. I couldn't actually understand any of it, so I was making conjectures. It could be the same language in different dialects for all I know.

I'd gotten sidetracked by all the sights, and now James was way ahead of me. "Ack!" I raced to catch up to him.

"Hey!" A guy, rather, a humanoid demon stopped me with a wave beckoning me over to him. "Are you one of the new gamers?" I studied him before answering. He had spikey, black hair, eyes like molten gold, horns, and a cheeky smile. He was also muscular and tall. Oh, my. I took a step back, unsure of what to do. I smiled up at him, unable to remain aloof to the goofy charm he exuded.

"Um, me?" I repeated in my usual awkward fashion that likes to appear when I'm in front of an attractive guy.

The guy laughed. "Yes, you. Is there another pretty succubus in the area? Sorry they didn't inform you earlier, but succubi stand out here. They tend to stay in big cities; there's more business for them there. I figured I could assume. Plus, you look as though you're not quite used to your heels yet. Are you used to sneakers, maybe?"

I blushed. "I don't need someone else to point out that I'm not very graceful, thanks." James appeared next to me with a glare in my direction.

The guy waved off my rudeness. "The fact that you have a shinigami near you is enough proof to me that you're a gamer. What's your name? You can call me Tai."

I looked to James for confirmation that this guy was safe to talk to, but he stared at me with utter disinterest. No reaction is a good reaction, right? "I'm Cally. Yes, I'm a gamer. Pleasure to meet you."

"So, are you going to give me the pleasure of escorting a lovely succubus like yourself around the area? I can drop you off at your house at the end. If it's okay with your guard dog, of course," he smirked at a sour-faced James.

"Why," James grumbled, "are you taking an interest in this gamer? You always thought the previous female gamers were idiots."

"How many of the gamers saved twenty lives?"

"Two."

"And do I have one of those two in front of me?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued, "Really, she's special. I won't injure her. Unless, of course, she asks me to. Then I'll grant the lady's request. I'm never one to deny a lady what she asks for." He grinned, biting down on his lip.

James sighed and obliged. "Don't make her late."

I was still trying to figure out what Tai meant about what ladies ask for when he gripped my wrist and started running, pulling me behind him.

"Whoa! Hey, slow down!" I protested to deaf ears. "You're tearing my arm out of its socket!"

Tai sighed impatiently and stopped, letting me catch up.

I stumbled up next to him, about to express my gratitude, but he gave me an odd glance. He dipped down, putting an arm under my knees and another behind my shoulders and picked me up with no strain whatsoever. Before I could react, he chucked me as high as he could. Chucked me, like a softball. I flipped end over end, screaming profanity and unintelligible babble. If I hadn't feared for my life, it might have been fun. Tai leapt into the air, catching me in midair like it was no big deal.

"What were you screaming for? I'm not showing you around just to accidentally drop and kill you, you know. I could, but I'd rather see how you do in this competition," he informed me innocently, hovering in the air and flying forward, towards a forest and away from the city. "But, since you decided to shatter my eardrums, I think I need some payment." He smirked devilishly and dipped his head, pressing his lips to mine.

I blushed an angry red and sputtered, "What-what do you think you're doing?" I would have slapped him, if my arms hadn't been in a death grip around his neck to keep myself from feeling like I was going to fall. Also, if he decided to drop me, he was going to come with.

He grinned. "Is that all I have to do to rile you up? You must have been an extraordinarily innocent and inexperienced girl while you were still alive."

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm still alive."

"Your mutilated body has already been cried over and buried in the ground. You're dead, darling."

I pursed my lips, dropping the debate of whether or not I was still alive. "I was more innocent than most, I suppose. But that doesn't mean I'll let you take advantage of me," I warned him.

"Sure, love. Whatever you say." He pecked my cheek. I let go of his neck to cross my arms and glare at him. He raised an eyebrow and dropped me. As I fell this time, I clamped my teeth together to stop from shrieking. If I survived this fall, I was going to kill him. I tumbled unheeded towards the treetops below. Closing my eyes, I said my prayers and apologized to Brenda for being the first to die. My fall abruptly stopped, and I cracked open one eye to see what caught me. I twitched when I saw the forest floor a few inches from my face. I craned my neck to see what had rescued me, only to find Tai staring down my skirt, more interested than any other human had been. I kicked free of his grip, mainly because he released me and I landed on the forest floor with a thump. Angry tears braised my eyes and I prepared myself to either kill him or get killed. He clamped a hand over my mouth and spun me around, pointing to a pool of water a few feet away. I looked in the direction he had pointed and gasped. Lapping at the pool's water sat an iridescent dragon.

"Don't make any noise. Dragons are beautiful, sure, but they have a hell of a temper when they're startled. Their natural instinct is to fry the offending object into a crisp whether it's a squirrel or a human," he whispered, the breath in my ear and the muscular chest pressed to my back a physical reminder of how human he seemed, despite certain aspects of his appearance and abilities. He continued trapping my mouth with his hand until the dragon ambled away. I bit his hand as soon as the dragon was far enough away not to fry me. When he released me with a pained grunt, I slapped him across his face.

"How dare you," I whispered, furious beyond words. "I don't know how things work here in demon land, but where I'm from, we don't stare down peoples skirts. And, if they do intend to stare, they do it discreetly." I stopped, out of breath.

"Well, sweetie, you should be getting the distinct feeling that you're not in Kansas anymore," Tai quoted the famous human movie, the Wizard of Oz. "We do what we damn well please, and if it means using you lot for our own pleasure, we won't feel any remorse for it." He took a step towards me, and I took a step back. He leered at me, sensing my fear. He continued to move forward until I felt my back hit a tree as I kept backing up to not have to face his wrath.

"Cally, this world doesn't work like your old one, at all. Just talking to me, or any other demon for that matter, is an invitation for rape or worse. Especially because you're a new succubus, barely used. Think about it. You're alone with me, miles from anywhere safe. I could take advantage of you whenever I pleased," he murmured, pinning me to the tree with his gaze and placing one of his arms above my head to block out any possible routes for me to escape through. He stared at me with an intensity that made me shiver in anticipation and fear. I didn't yet want to admit that I might be over my head.

"If you were going to pull something like this, why would James let you take me?"

He laughed, incredulous. "You actually think any of those shinigami care about you lot? He doesn't mind what I do to you as long as I don't kill you. If I was as sexually deprived or blood hungry as some of the demons, you'd already be thrown on the ground and stripped for optimal "use." James thinks you could benefit from learning how this world works." His other hand drifted through my hair and pulled out a single strand. I winced, and he snorted, releasing me. "I'm not going to do anything to you, relax. But really, you do need to learn how to disguise how innocent and naive you are. Before some other demon eats you up."

When he let me go, I felt my knees weaken. I grabbed the tree behind me to steady myself. Tai walked over to the pool the dragon had been drinking from and ran his hand over the ground until he picked up a dull colored stone. He returned to me, forced open my tightly clenched fist and placed the stone in my hand. I looked at it disinterestedly.

"It's a stone."

"God, you humans are so fixed on appearances," he complained. "Watch." He brought my hand to his mouth and blew on the stone, removing a layer of hardened dust. As if my magic, the stone sparkled in a shower of radiant, rainbow colors.

"It's a dragon scale. Most females find them pretty, demon or human. Hell, I find it pretty."

"I'm not most girls," I pouted.

"Oh? I saw your face. You were mesmerized."

I shot him a glare and then relented. He is a demon. He wouldn't know how to act.

"Can I go to my new home, now, please?"

"Sure. One thing, though."

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel about letting me show you more of the world some other time, when you're not getting settled in?"

I blinked. About to refuse him, I heard the words that I never thought I'd say exit my mouth. "Why not." What have I gotten myself into?


	9. Chapter 9: Hellhouse

Chapter 4- Brenda's POV

Jaz tugged me along before I could say goodbye to Cally. The neighborhood blurred in my vision as she raced me through the town, pointing out points of interest along the way. We zoomed out of the city limits and onto a well-traveled forest path. About five minutes later, I spotted a gorgeous, Victorian-era style house. It had white siding with grey trim covering its two stories. It had blue-grey shutters on every window, a porch along the front of the house, and a wraparound balcony on the second floor. Gorgeous. I stopped staring when Jaz cleared her throat behind me.

"Um, do you think you could handle yourself for a while, now that you're at your house? I have a meeting to go to," she explained. When I nodded, she continued, "You'll be sharing a room with Lydia once she and Todd get here, assuming they're alive. It's the second room on the left at the top of the stairs."

"Sure," I shrugged. "It's not like I can go anywhere."

"Then," Jaz smiled, "I hope you have a lovely time." She disappeared in the blink of an eye. I stepped up to the door and turned the excessively ornate knob. Upon viewing the interior, I realized that the beautiful style of the exterior matched the style the house was furnished in, except the inside had more of a modern feel, not to mention modern facilities. The kitchen was the first room on the left, next to the huge entry way. To the right, there was an entertainment room. Under the stairs and to the left of them there was a hallway. The stairs themselves were slightly curved so that the bottom of the stairs was parallel to the front door and the top of the stairs was a few feet to the left. I climbed the stairway, noting the shiny mahogany banister, into which intricate designs had been carved into. There were four doors upstairs. The first door on the left opened to a supply closet, stocked with cleaning supplies, bed linens, and towels, not to mention a huge first aid kit; complete with crutches and miles of gauze. The next door on the left had a nameplate hanging from a purple nail with my name and Lydia's name. I pushed open the door apprehensively. I didn't know quite what to expect. Perhaps a cage-like prison or a black hole? I was relieved to find out that the room looked like a large college dorm room. There were two beds, a twin sized bed with a teddy bear pattern bedspread which I assumed was for Lydia and a queen sized bed with a velvety black bedspread for me. There was a stuffed dog laying across my multiple pillows with a collar and dog tags.

"Melvin?" I read out his name slowly, letting the syllables roll off my tongue. "What an odd name. I kind of like it." The name suited the stuffed animal, I decided as I studied it's silly doggy smile and lolling tongue. I set "Melvin" back down and hopped onto my bed, laughing as it bounced me high into the air. As the bouncing settled down, I took inventory of the rest of the room. There was an overflowing bookcase stuffed with tons of fiction books as well as an IPod touch nestled in its dock on one of the shelves. I finished exploring my room after opening a closet that Lydia and I would share. It held clothes of all types and for all weather for both of us. It appeared that the human necessities had been taken care of, for now. I left my room and left to go explore elsewhere. Across from my room, Cally and Serenity's room lay untouched. I guess I'm the first one here. That room is going to be loud unless they managed to soundproof it. They're going to _love_ being roommates. I hope Serenity doesn't experiment on Cally too much. There'll be scream matches everywhere, not to mention flying fur and feathers if Cally decides to shift. The fourth room which was across from the supply closet was a spacious bathroom with two sinks, two showers, two toilets, and a tub. Everything was a shade of blue, with a few yellow accents, like a demonic rubber ducky.

I wandered downstairs to check out the kitchen and entertainment center. The kitchen was full of stainless steel, new appliances, and yet despite all of the modern things about the room, it didn't seem unfriendly. In fact, it was rather inviting. However, I may have gotten that idea because I enjoy cooking more than most people. The fridge was well stocked, as was the spice rack, to my surprise. I didn't recognize all of the spices or foods, but I'm sure I'll figure them out soon enough. I wandered out of the kitchen and over to the hallway below the stairs. It looks like the other room assignments are Alex and Todd in one room and Derek and Shanaia in the other. A co-ed room? I wonder how that'll work. There was no supply closet like there was in the upstairs hallway, but there was another bathroom, which appeared to be identical to the bathroom upstairs.

Under the stairs, there was a glass door I hadn't noticed before until I'd gone into the hallway. I peered inside the room and cheered. The room appeared to be a training room, of sorts. It held a large area for weight training, cardio machines, and mat work. Along the wall of the large area, weapons of all sorts rested on hooks and racks. Swords, guns, knives, staffs, bows and arrows, and grenades of all brand and makes were plentiful. At the other side of the room, a lap pool churned with machine-made waves. I suppose this will be useful later when I want to train myself so I can protect myself and others. I exited the room and entered the entertainment center.

"We are _loaded_!" I shrieked upon closer examination of the room. We had a mounted widescreen TV, multiple game systems and arcade games, a giant plush couch, a vending machine filled with semi-healthy snacks and soda, and last but not least the holy grail of music systems. It was the largest stereo system I'd ever seen, with multiple speakers, stationed around the room. I bounded towards it and flicked on the 'radio' button.

"Hello!" A cheerful voice rang out from behind me. I spun around, but no one was there.

"What?" I asked slowly, suddenly afraid.

I heard a sigh. "I _said_, hello! What, haven't you seen a talking stereo before? They're all the rage, here," the stereo said smugly. I faced it, surprised. "I can give you any signal from any radio station in hell or above. What's your poison?" He-the voice sounded male- flashed his lights at me.

"Can you play Pandora?"

"What song or artist?"

"Imogen Heap."

"Add variety?"

"No, thank you."

"Searching."

The opening bars of the song, "Hide and Seek' began to play, and I smiled.

'Where are we? What the hell…is going on? The dust has only just began to form crop circles in the carpet, sinking, feeling,' I closed my eyes and pretended to have a dance partner, moving gracefully in a circle with my arms in the correct position for ballroom dancing.

'Spin me round again and rub my eyes, this can't be happening. With busy streets a mess with people would stop to hold her hands.'

I was jerked out of my reverie by someone fitting themselves into my ballroom dancing position, clasping my hand and placing their other hand gently about my waist. Opening my eyes slowly, not sure what to expect, I was hit with the full force of a stage five blush as I looked up through my eyelashes at Todd.

"Oh, don't stop dancing," he protested as I moved, flustered, to disengage him from my dance. "You just looked so beautiful dancing, like, I don't know, the wind, if the wind was a girl? Pardon my awkward forwardness, but I just wanted to join you. You seemed so peaceful. So…at home with yourself. Plus, Imogen Heap is awesome," he blushed.

'You don't care a bit…'

"Aww, the song ended," Todd sighed.

"Are you two flirting? Are you two going to smash your faces together? My big sister always got all blushy and smiley and flustered before John would do that with her," Lydia popped up next to us.

I bit back a startled laugh. "I don't know, Todd, are we?"

He returned my grin. "I could give it a go."

Lydia stared at us expectantly until we had to explain that we were kidding.

"Sorry, no show for you, Lyddie. And for future reference face smashing is called kissing."

I nodded, taking Lydia's hand. "Here, Lydia. Let me show you to our room." I led her to the stairs but she jerked away and raced to the top on her own, smiling. She's so adorable, I couldn't help but smile back. Unfortunately, smiling took my attention away from maneuvering the stairs and I slipped, falling backwards. I'd almost made it to the top of the stairwell, so this was going to be a long fall down, I realized as I grasped for any possible handhold. This was going to be a long fall down, and it felt like it was going in slow motion. I thought I saw something glinting from the stair I'd slipped on, but it disappeared in the next moment. Before my life could flash before my eyes, I felt a pair of strong, muscular arms wrap around my waist and snatch me out of my fall.

"It's okay, I've got you," Todd's voice was hoarse. I opened my eyes and looked into his face, then down at the floor, which seemed rather unsteady. We were hovering in midair. Todd didn't seem to know what to think about that, so he clenched me to him and froze.

"Todd?"

"Yes?"

"We're floating."

"Excellent observation, Mistress Obvious! What would really help is if you could tell me how to land," he said, a bit shakily.

"Well, worrying about it isn't going to help, either. What were you doing or thinking when you saw me fall?"

He thought for a moment before replying, "I was thinking that I didn't want to see anyone die in front of me. I wanted to lift you up."

"Try thinking heavy thoughts. You wanted to lift me up, now want to set me down," I suggested.

"Heavy thoughts, right," he breathed, slowly drifting to the floor like a dead balloon. He heaved a huge sigh of relief when his feet touched the floor and buried his face in my shoulder.

"Hey. Hey!" I poked the base of his neck, tracing a curlicue of tattoo.

"I-I thought," he gulped, "that you were going to die, and the real game hasn't even begun yet."

"Did you think, even for a second, that if I died here, there would be one less person in your way to winning?"

He shrugged, "Winning that way would leave a bad taste in my mouth. I want to win after doing all I can for those around me. It's how I was raised."

"Is that what you mean by kissing?" Lydia butted in.

"What? No, we're not kissing-" Todd stopped talking and looked in the direction that Lydia was pointing.

I could see Cally through the front screen door, running up the path to the door, a handsome male demon following behind her closely. She did not look pleased, especially when he grabbed her wrist and spun her to face him just before she could reach the door. She opened her mouth and started to yell at him, but he covered her mouth with his. My mouth dropped open and Todd set me down, equally surprised as we stared at the strange pair. Cally bit down hard on his lip and shoved the demon away. The demon winced and touched the line of blood coming from his lip.

"I am going inside. If you try to follow me, you'll find your body in multiple chunks, starting with you dick, if your kind even has them.""

The demon just smirked, flicked his hand as a goodbye wave, and walked away. Cally clenched her hands into fists, only to open them again to mimic strangling the demon in the air with her hands. She spun around and wrenched open both doors behind her and sank slowly to the floor after slamming the doors closed.

"I want to kill him!" She screamed. I didn't have time to ask her what happened between her and that demon so that she'd already want to commit homicide. Someone else crashed open the front door, smashing Cally's head between the wall and the door. Alex and Serenity sauntered calmly inside. Oh, dear.

Alex eyed Cally with distain. She was holding her head with her hands. Her forehead was already bruising and the rest of her face was turning red from rage.

"What happened to you?" Alex asked snidely.

She had started to shake, but once he talked she became perfectly still. She breathed slowly and clenched her jaw. I threw up a force field just as she threw herself towards Alex with murderous intent. She threw herself against my force field again and again, trying to break through it; clawing and battering at the invisible bubble I'd surrounded her with. While she shrieked something unintelligible, Alex raised his eyebrows at me as he and Serenity spoke at the same time. "What's up with her?"

"I think she had a bad experience with a humanoid demon, and now she's out for blood. Also, you did just smash her into the wall with the door. She's currently in sack, pillage and destroy mode, and I'm sure getting smashed into didn't help the cause." I ground my teeth as she threw herself at the field again, and instead of just rebounding off of the shield, my shield decided to shock her with a round of electricity to prevent her from breaking through. When she picked herself off the floor, she shot me a glare and I held up my hands in a defensive position.

"Hey, it's not my fault! I don't necessarily know how to control my shield. I guess it decided to slow you down so that you wouldn't break through it." She wasn't listening. I sighed. She was back to hammering on the shield's walls ignoring the shocks she was receiving. Instead, they just seemed to fuel her anger. I felt myself being drained of energy each time she hit the force field, and it wavered momentarily. This gave her enough time to escape the bubble and barrel towards Alex, ready to take a chunk out of his flesh. I knew I wouldn't be able to protect him in time. Serenity got out of the way and Alex dodged the Cally-bullet, whom was trying to clothesline him. As she turned to charge again, Alex got a devious grin and called Cally's name. She glanced up at him and did a double take. He held a ball of fire in his hands like a potato. Cally's freak-out died to a blip in the past as she stared at the orb, enthralled. She glided over towards Alex, staring into the center of the fire.

Alex chuckled, turning the orb into a miniature tornado of fire. Cally blinked. "Was she a pyro back on earth, by any chance?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "She always found fire interesting, because she thought it was beautiful and dangerous, not to mention powerful. She wasn't one for starting unwanted fires. Ah! Cally! Bad! Hot! Hot!" I dashed towards her and smacked her hand away from the fire she was reaching into. Alex jerked back in surprise and extinguished the flame; he hadn't noticed her get that close to him. Cally mewed in protest and Alex sighed, lighting a dot of flame in the air. Cally's eyes followed it wherever it went.

"This is more entertaining than a laser pointer," he snickered.

Serenity rolled her eyes and gripped Cally's arm, dragging her towards the stairs. "Time to go see our room, you pyro-crazie."

At first, Cally didn't budge. She was still staring at the flame, which was changing colors from orange, to blue, to white.

"Alex…" Serenity warned him. Alex yawned and Serenity was finally able to drag a protesting Cally up the stairs. I felt a tug on my sleeve and I glanced down.

"Are you going to show me my room or not?" Lydia asked sweetly.

"Of course, dear. Let's go!" I took her hand and we left the boys in the entry way. We took the next half an hour exploring every nook and cranny of the upstairs floor. Lydia discovered that her teddy bear could talk. I discovered a sewing and jewelry-making set, complete with clasps and needles. There was a window on the wall that my headboard rested against, and it turned out to be a door to the wraparound balcony I'd seen from the outside. After Lydia and I were through scrounging through our new bedroom, we snuck into Cally and Serenity's bedroom. I felt a slight twinge of jealousy, seeing a fireplace in the center of their room. They didn't have a bookcase, though. They had end tables with an iPod dock for each of them next to queen beds covered in pillows. On Serenity's side of the room, there was an easel on which she'd already started painting on. When I tried to see what she was painting, she covered it up. I frowned. Whatever it had been, it looked beautiful. She pointed to Lydia.

"I think she's about to ask something stupid. Can you go do some damage control?"

"How could you know that?" I asked. She shrugged and continued pointing at Lydia. I walked over to the two girls. Lydia was staring intently at Cally, whom was trying her best not to stare back. She was fighting a losing battle. It's hard not to look at someone whose eyes are boring a hole in you.

"What?" She finally asked, uncomfortable.

"You kissed that demon."

"No, Tai kissed _me_. Big difference," she replied, turning slightly pink.

"He was hot." Serenity joined Cally on her bed and joined in the conversation.

"That's kind of hard to notice when he's being an ass."

"Cally!" I gestured to Lydia. "Language!"

"It's okay," Lydia said confidently, "I've heard worse from my sister."

"Kissing and swearing…Your sister sounds like one interesting girl," I muttered.

"Oh, she was!" Lydia smiled brilliantly. "I love her. And, see, Miss Brenda? I got it right! Kissing!"

"Dear lord. If the demons don't get me, I'll be shocked to death by the things coming out of her mouth," Cally tsked.

Shocked. Something niggled in the back of my mind once she'd mentioned death and shock in the same sentence. "Cally!" My eyes widened once I remembered. "I don't suppose you had your heart medication on you when we were shot?"  
"No, those stayed at home, remember? Oh, crap," Cally realized the full impact of what I was implying.

"I wonder if they have pharmacies in demon land," Serenity wondered aloud. "Probably not. How bad is your heart?"

"Um," Cally thought for a moment. "It's not something I should die from. Sometimes I pass out or stop breathing, but I usually recover quickly from that. Other times, my heart will hurt like I'm about to die, but I don't, so when that happens I just keep going with life. People don't even realize it, usually. I'm _fine_. I survived before I started my meds, and I'll survive now."

"So why is Brenda giving you a death glare?"

Serenity was right, I was glaring at her. Now I'm going to have more to worry about, besides her immaturity. "If you feel _anything_…"

"I'll tell you, _mother_. At least if I died from this it'd be less painful than being eaten," Cally pointed out.

"Have you considered the possibility that you might pass out in front of something that could take advantage of your prone position and kill or maim you, idiot?" I growled.

She laughed. "Stop worrying! I'll be fine. Dumb luck, remember?"  
"No."

"Try. Please?"

"If you die on me…" I threatened her.

"You'll kill me. Got it. Can we move on from talking about what a freak I am, please?"

"Ahem," someone coughed gently. We looked up and spotted Shanaia smiling at us from the doorway.

"Sup?" Cally grinned. Serenity snorted, returned to her easel and resumed painting. Does she dislike Shanaia or something? I waved Shanaia over to us and she took up the spot on the bed that Serenity had vacated.

"Did you just get back?" I asked.

"Yeah. Derek's home, too. He came in as I was heading up the stairs to come see you guys. Apparently, he's my roomie." She wrinkled her nose. "I guess that's better than having Alex or Todd as my roomie, but it'll still be awkward," she paused. "My room is the same as this one, but I don't have a fireplace. I have a dancers bar though, and a mini punching bag, which I am assuming is for Derek."

Cally's eyes lit up. "Can I use it sometime?"

"What, the punching bag? It's fine by me, but beating on a bag isn't going to help you gain much strength or skill. You need something that's able to fight back."  
"Well, if stereos can talk, why not have a fighting punching bag?" I joked. They stared at me like I was crazy. "What? The giant stereo downstairs talked to me when I first came here."

"I can confirm that. Mia told me that it could talk," Serenity apparently had been listening to our conversation while painting. I sulked a bit, because no one believed me the first time without someone else confirming that. I could understand if it had been Cally talking about a talking stereo, but that's because she'd always had one foot in reality and one foot in insanity and dream worlds.

Cally shrugged and returned to the original issue. "Yeah, I'd rather use Alex or Tai as a punching bag. That would be more entertaining."

"You want to go, trick?" Alex growled, stomping into the room. Cally hopped ip, prepared to defend against an onslaught of blows. "Later. The midgets are calling everyone downstairs. Come on." He swept out of the room and into the hall, traipsing down the stairs.

"I'm assuming he means the shinigami. I'm so glad he respects authority," Cally scowled. Serenity rolled her eyes and brushed past Cally to follow Alex. I took Lydia's hand and led her out with Shanaia following close behind. Cally sighed and followed us out, shutting the door behind her. Everyone was gathering in the entertainment room. Out shinigami were there, along with Sarah. She nodded at me while motioning for the shinigami to begin talking. Jaz spoke up first.

"I hope you lot are enjoying your new home. Brutus, take good care of them!" Everyone turned to see who she was talking to. The stereo I'd talked to earlier waved its antennae at us in greeting.

"Of course I will, Madame Jessie. I always have since the beginning of the first Game, haven't I?"

Everyone blinked in surprise except for me, since I knew he could talk. I wrinkled my nose at them, laughing in my mind.

"Here's the stitch," Jaz continued. "From now on, you won't see us until it's absolutely necessary. Some of you might see us more than once, since near-death experiences are quite common for gamers. Use the training room to your advantage. It is never quite what you think it is. Its proportions and uses change depending on the needs of the people in it. The form you currently see is its default form. All you have to do to change it is place your hand on the touch pad outside of the door. You can ask Rouge for the science-y stuff, but I don't really care for that sort of thing. I assume you have all checked out your new bedrooms and have figured out who your new roommates are?"

There was a smattering of affirmatives and nods.

"Okay. Your shinigami each have something important that will help you in the long run. That being done, we'll take our leaves. Good luck, and try to stay alive, okay?"

"Like we'd try not to," Cally muttered.

"Knowing you, you'll end up dying on accident or some other stupid way," Alex said sarcastically.

"Don't even try to act like you know anything about me," she snapped.

Jaz rolled her eyes and turned towards me. The rest of the shinigami went over to their own gamers and started talking to them.

"Word of advice for your survival," Jaz intoned, "Sometimes your mind makes things bigger than they are. For living here," she gestured towards the house, "Don't get too attached to things or people. It'll end up messing you up. Don't die on me, okay? I want to win this year, okay?" She patted my shoulder and disappeared, leaving me to process her words. I get the 'don't get too attached' but, but things bigger than they are? What? I looked towards Cally. Her face betrayed no emotions, but I could sense a twinge of fear mixed with stubbornness. One by one, the shinigami began to disperse, leaving a palatable feeling of discomfort and worry in the air.


	10. Chapter 10: Infights

Chapter Five-Cally's POV

I left the meeting first, but didn't go directly back to my room. I checked out the training room, first. I was glad to see the room was stocked with all manner of weaponry, as well as stationary dummies and boxing bags. I suspect that I'll be down here more often than I'd expect. I slipped up the stairs undisturbed. The rest of the gamers were still being talked to by their shinigami. I pushed open the door to my bedroom and was welcomed by a blast of heat from the fireplace. I turned the temperature down and changed into a camisole and shorts to sleep in. It'd been a long day, and I had no wish to remain with the awake and undead. I snuggled into my blanket and drifted into a restless sleep. My dreams were drenched in coagulated blood and confusion. This dream state was something that was only partly solid, and yet never solid enough to really see anything real. It was more of a feeling than a dream. Faces slipped in and out of my mind like an old movie reel. A person walked towards me and waved, smiling like we were good friends. I smiled back at him and prepared to wave back at them, but then I noticed something odd about his eyes. There were wells of blackness where his eyes should have been. They were endless voids, like wells of shadows. He reached out for me, and I was unsure of what to do, so I took a step back. The floor wasn't solid, so I began to fall. I was certain that I would fall forever, never being a part of reality again.

"Hey, bozo! Wake up?"

I forced my eyes open to stare into Serenity's severely pissed off face.

"What's wrong?" I propped myself up on one arm.

"Would you kindly explain why you can't go five minutes without talking in your sleep?"

"Eh?"

"Either shut up, or go away. I want my beauty sleep," she flounced away.

"Goodness knows you need that," I snarkily replied to her back. I pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans over my boy shorts and didn't bother pulling on something on top of my camisole. I slipped out of the room, trying not to disturb Serenity further. I remembered dreaming about something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I just remember not liking the dream too much. I closed the door softly and trotted silently down the stairs the training room. I figured now is as good of a time as any to begin working out protective strategies. I flicked on the lights as I entered the spacious training room after placing my hand on the touch pad to the left of the door. If the laws of mass, logic, space, and physics applied in this world, there would be no way for this room to exist, I realized as I opened the door. This room couldn't possibly fit inside the house. It currently looked like a martial artist's dream, complete with all sorts of munitions, bags, and swords. I grabbed a swordstaff off of its rack on the wall and felt its edge, wincing as it pricked my thumb. I licked the dot of blood from my thumb and continued feeling along the staff portion of the weapon. I tested its weight and balance by going through some simple formations. I practiced with the swordstaff for almost an hour, working up a decent sweat. I focused on the swings and jabs of the weapon instead of the situation I was in, lest I go mad in this world because of the knowledge that such a place exists. When I tired of the reputations, I moved on to hand-to-hand combat training, specifically Tae Kwon Do. I beat on the training dummies and bags until the stuffing was filling the air with dust.

"Wouldn't it do you more good to fight something that could fight back? At your current level, tenderizing stuffed vinyl bags won't help you," Alex's cocky voice came from the door as he entered the room.

I growled under my breath. "What're you doing here?" I asked impatiently.

"Hey, I'm not the one who's been here since three am."

"I couldn't sleep," I supplied an answer for his unasked question.

"Oh, I figured you just liked to sleep-fight. Why would I care if you couldn't sleep, dumbass?"

I shot a glare in his direction. "Was that an offer to be my punching bag I heard, angry-boy? I think it was."

"No," he shook his head, grabbing a staff off of the wall and testing its weight before setting it down and reaching for another one. "I'm offering to let you learn stuff instead of being stuck in the same pattern of immobile targets."

I whacked his hand with the butt of the swordstaff I'd discarded earlier, forcing him to drop his staff. "I'm game. Don't run off crying if you lose." I was thrilled at the concept of a spar, especially when I have a chance to beat the tar out of Alex. "No holds barred?" I asked, a cunning grin slipping past my calculated emotionless gaze.

"None. But for this purpose, we should leave our powers out of it. We're training for protection, which means no cheating," Alex suggested.

I grabbed hold of a decimated punching bag and sprang towards Alex, stabbing at his neck with my swordstaff. "No sense in waiting to get started, then," I smirked as he dodged the blow. I jabbed at his neck, wincing as it was deflected by an invisible force. In the second that I wasted by going for a killshot, Alex reached toward the wall and snatched a double edged broadsword from it. I don't know why he would choose a sword, since my swordstaff has a much longer range than his sword. I didn't have any more time to waste pondering it, because Alex thrust his sword at the wooden part of the swordstaff, hacking a hunk of wood out from just behind where the metal connects to the staff. I cursed and wheeled away, circling him. I waited until my back was to the weapons wall, which would be both a curse and a blessing. I could grab the weapons I needed and prevent Alex from grabbing any more weapons, but a well-timed thrust from Alex could send me to be impaled on the very weapons I wanted to use. I defended against an onslaught of quick jabs and parries, only managing to go on the offensive towards the end, as he slowed down. I groaned inwardly as the staff snapped in two where Alex had taken a chunk out a few minutes earlier. I held the staff out in front of me with one hand, reaching behind me with the other to grasp a set of throwing knives. He eyed my move and reacted swiftly, jabbing towards my throat. The blow deflected itself and I used to opening to throw the broken end of the staff like a spear at his knee. The sharp, broken point of the staff didn't stab through flesh as I'd hoped, but merely made him stumble backwards. On his way backwards, he rapped my wrists with the flat side of his sword. I muttered profanities as I dropped the knives and dropped into a roll as he slashed at me, already recovered. I kicked out at his bad knee, felling him again. He tossed his sword to the side to avoid impaling himself. I took the opportunity to jump onto his back. I clung like a monkey as he spun around, trying to dislodge me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, choking him. He slammed me into a wall repeatedly, trying to remove me. I tightened my grip and grit my teeth, not releasing him as he'd wished. He growled and gripped the back of my head, tearing at my hair until he got a grip on my neck. I saw stars as my head smashed into the floor as he flipped me off of his back by pushing on some pressure points in my neck to cause momentary paralysis. He held down my legs with his knees and my wrists with my hands.

"Girls are weaker than boys," he stated, gloating. "It's a fact of life. Now, ready to give up?" He was breathing heavily.

I glared at him and spat on his cheek.

"Never," I hissed. I smashed my head into his forehead. He recoiled swiftly, giving me just enough time to get to my feet and get into a defensive position. "Just so you know," I bit out my words, "That's a generalization. And it doesn't apply to me."

"What the hell are you two doing at four AM?" Derek's voice interrupted our battle and I felt my battle lust subside. Now that I had an audience, I had no wish to fight.

"They're very interesting to watch, I must admit." I whirled around to see Shanaia sitting in the corner of the room.

"How-" I paused and tried again. "When did you get here?" I wasn't used to her uncanny ability to be unseen and unheard when she wished.

"About the same time Alex took a chunk out of your swordstaff."

"So, pretty much since the beginning."

"Yup."

"Lovely." I closed my eyes.

"Um, Cally?"

"What?"

"Behind you."

I turned my head in time to take a direct blow to the side of my head. I swore as I felt myself begin to lose consciousness. As I fell, Alex bent down next to me and whispered his parting words in my ear.

"Never turn your back on your enemy, idiot."

"Cally…" Brenda's voice, dangerously low, cut through my unconscious stupor. She shook me and my eyes flew open as she called my name again.

"What? What? I'm up-" I winced as my head throbbed. "Oh, yeah."

"Don't you 'oh, yeah,' me, missy! What the hell are you doing, fighting with Alex before dawn? How stupid are you?" She reprimanded me.

"Could you not yell, please?" I asked meekly, rubbing my temples.

"Oh, does your head hurt? Well, it's your own damn fault. You'll get no sympathy from me! I'll yell if I want. It serves you right, anyways!"

"How do I deserve you yelling at me? I learned my lesson," I protested. "I got decked in the head. Isn't that enough punishment?"

"Obviously not, if I'm yelling at you. What lesson did you learn, exactly?"

"Don't turn your back on your enemy until they're dead."

She thwacked me over the head with her hand. "That's not what you were supposed to say. You were supposed to have learned not to go around fighting everybody. You know that if you get knocked around too much it'll set off your condition when you need it to be gone the most."

"Would you stop treating me like an child? It's none of your concern what I do and what affects me." I hopped to my feet and helped Brenda up from her squatted position before turning on my heel and stalking out of the training room and slamming the door on the way out. She tried to call my name, but I ignored her and stormed through the front hall, heading for the porch. I climbed onto the railing and leaned against a support pillar. I know Brenda cares for me, but I don't want her treating me like a child. I'm not an idiot. I'm not going to do something that would purposely harm or kill me. I sighed and cleared my mind of any thoughts aside from the feeling of the demon world's cool dawn. The moon was always out, so I could only judge the time by the feel of the day. I began to doze off, managing to stay upright and balanced. The hum of wings was surprisingly comforting, although they might be attached to whatever was going to someday tear me apart. I slipped further asleep, succumbing to the calling of the comfortable sleep that I'd given up earlier to the nightmares. My eyes snapped open moments before something placed their cool hand onto my head. I'd been given warning by the crack of a small broken branch on the ground. I instinctively smashed into their jaw with a swift left uppercut. They staggered backwards and I leapt into the ready position, prepared to destroy anything that moves.

"Owwww," Tai winced and rubbed his jaw, snapping it back into place. He spat out a tooth and a good deal of blood. "What was that for?" He ground his teeth and a new tooth popped up where the old one had broken off.

"Well," I sheepishly replied, still miffed, "you shouldn't have snuck up on me. Especially when I'm sleeping."

"Maybe you shouldn't be sleeping where everything can sneak up on you. Also, what'd you do to yourself?" He reached towards my head, where I imagine more than a few bruises are forming. I took a step back to avoid his touch and he lowered his hand. "I imagine that there are more bruises than the three I can see," he commented, motioning towards my head and wrists.

"They're fine."

"Liar. I'll ask again. What'd you do?"

I hesitated, not intending to tell Tai anything. He gave me a disapproving look, knowing that I'd probably lie. I decided to tell him the truth, this time. "I was training against one of the gamers. He knocked me out. I was stupid, I know. Don't say anything." I assumed that he'd look down on me for being another weak girl.

"What makes you think that I would say anything? It looks like it was a long, evenly matched fight. Plus, a knockout blow from behind doesn't count. Nice goose egg, by the way."

"How could you possibly tell that it was a long fight, let alone a fair one?"

"From the bruises and from your hands. I didn't say that it was a fair fight. It looks like the only way he knocked you out was from a blow from behind, which is the coward's way of fighting. I said that it was an even fight. You have the grain of your weapon ingrained in your hand, and they're still red, white, and raw from fighting. You put up a good fight. Also, your knuckles are bruised from more than a few blows I'd assume. You have offensive wounds as well as defensive wounds. You did well. I'm sure you could have gone on longer if you hadn't gotten surprised. You seem like a stubborn person. In the meantime, I intend to take you somewhere to show you more of this realm."  
"Oh, is that right?" I was still mistrustful of him, regardless of the flattery he'd just bestowed upon me. "Or are you going to take me somewhere where you could take advantage of me?"

"I guess you'll have to go with me to find out! Besides, would it really be taking advantage of you if you liked it?" He grinned cockily.

"You're disgusting." I turned around to go back into the house. My feet froze to the ground, and I began to fall face first. Tai grabbed my waist and hoisted me up a split second before I hit the ground.

"You know, I could just take you with me. You have no idea what I'm capable of. But I'm being nice, see?" His breath tickled my ear.

I jabbed my elbow into his solar plexus. He winced, but didn't release me. "Maybe I'd be more willing to go with you if you weren't always acting like a lecher.

"But it's fun to make you all bothered."

"Maybe for you, but I on the other hand, don't like it."

"That's the point. Don't make me control your whole body. I can, and might even want to; depending on the conditions, but now isn't the place for those sorts of things. Not yet. Although, if you want me to, I'm always up for a new experience."

I slapped him. He released me, frowned, and then smirked.

I hate it when he smirks.

Apparently, I had a reason to hate it.

He whistled sharply and the gentle morning breeze turned into a full-scale gale. I gripped the porch's wooden posts, only to lose my grip and stumble towards him. He picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and hopped into the air. The wind died down once we were a few hundred feet into the air.

"Payback for slapping, punching, and elbowing me," he jeered, drifting higher and higher into the air. I glanced at the ground and shuddered. He grabbed my hands and pulled me off of his shoulder to dangle me in the air in front of him. I gasped and dug my nails into his arm so he couldn't let me go. He rolled his eyes. "Stand up."

"What?" I looked at him frantically. He released my arms and I almost screamed, but I kept my grip.

"Stand up, damn it! We're ridding you of your irrational fear of heights. You won't fall, so stand up!" He held me out at arm's length, using the wind to force me to release my grip on his arm. I struggled against the wind until I had no choice but to let him go. "Calm down. You're safe. I'm not going to let you fall."

I peeked downward and gulped. Everything was so far below me. I was surprised to find that the ground was solid under my feet. "I'm not scared of heights," I shivered.

"No?" He looked at me dubiously.

"I'm scared of hitting the ground. If I know I won't fall, I'm not scared."

"What about sky diving?"

"As long as I have a parachute, I'm good," I informed him, treading around in the sky.

He shook his head and laughed at me. "Okay, you're fine when we're still. What if we're flying?"

"Um, I don't know if…" We took off through the sky, heedless of speed limits or gravity. I did my best to balance like a surfer and I managed to stay upright.

"Woo!" I cried excitedly.

"Kind of exhilarating, isn't it?" He grinned as I tumbled through the air, wheeling in midair flips and cartwheels.

"Yeah, now that you mention it," I smiled. This was better than any motorcycle ride back on Earth.

"All right, I'll take over for now. You did well for your first flight, but this area tends to be turbulent. Come here." He pulled the wind towards him, pulling me with it. I sighed in disappointment as he gripped my wrist and folded my body close to his. We were off, the wind snatching at my skin and clothes, tangling my hair with branches and leaving small bruises where pebbles nicked my face. I watched the landscape shift and change over time, like Earth's climate zones in fast forward. We began a slow descent, brushing the tips of branches with our feet. He set me down gently so as not to slam me into the boulders.

"We'll walk from here. Flying into the big city isn't a smart idea, unless your goal is to be as conspicuous as possible."

I nodded, still slightly wary of his presence. At least he hasn't tried to eat me, yet. I stared at his back as he headed towards a beaten path. I started to follow him once he was a good hundred feet ahead of me. He glanced behind him and rolled his eyes, motioning for me to catch up to him. I shook my head and he shrugged, continuing on his way with a lackadaisical flick of his fingers. I relaxed, glancing around my surroundings. The trees looked like oak trees from Earth, except the bark oozed sap like a perforated lump of scar tissue oozes blood. I would have touched it to see if it was sticky or runny, but I stopped dead as a winged earthworm flew in front of me to light upon the tree. As it touched down, my hands flew to cover my ears as a horrible scream came from the worm and I smelt burnt flesh as I watched the worm sizzle and squirm in the trap of the tree's sap. My eyes widened and I hurried forward as Tai was even further ahead of me, now that I'd paused. Screw being wary of Tai. I might as well stick with him and have someone who understands this weird world on my side. Choosing the lesser of two evils, I guess. I could see a gate up ahead with twisted barbed wire, iron wrought vines, and brass buds twining around the steel bars of the gates. Tai lounged against the brick walls connected to the gate, waiting for me with the catlike gleam of a predator in his gaze. He held out his hand, beckoning me to join him as he stepped through the gate with a nod to their guards. I hesitated, but he took me by my elbow and guided me through the gate.

"The guards kill the city's visitors once in a while, depending on what side the coin lands on, heads or tails." He motioned to a large coin perpetually being flipped midair in a glass case on the city side of the brick wall. "It's good to have luck on your side," Tai grinned. "Or, in this case, a demon who can control air, and thus control what side the coin lands on." He stuck his tongue out at the guard-demon's backs. I giggled nervously, wondering if it might be best to keep to the relative safety within Tai's arms. I made my decision when a giant troll demon leered down at me from a storefront. Placing myself so that Tai's arm would rest around my shoulders, I tried to get comfortable despite being stared at. Tai wrapped an arm around my waist instead. "Don't be worried," he breathed in my ear, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "I'll protect you. But your instincts were right. That storekeeper is known for keeping any female demon he takes a liking to. Making it clear you're already taken will help you, for now."

"Taken?" I asked, not liking how that sounded.

"Well, you look like a succubus and you're in the big city. It appears to everyone that I've taken you for my own personal use, whether that's true or not doesn't have to be any of their concern." He lifted my chin with his strong hand and kissed me lightly on my lips to emphasize the façade to anyone looking.

"If that's what they're looking for, baby, then, let's give it our all, shall we?" I was feeling decidedly giddy and slightly punch drunk because of the strange, dangerous situations I'd continuously been in the last day. I nibbled a line of sweetly delicate love bites along the edge of his jaw. I smirked up at him through my eyelashes and automatically dodged a watermelon sized bug flying past my head. I was shocked out of my reverie, and jumped away from Tai in my effort to avoid being decapitated. I looked behind me and shrieked. A horde of the same type of bugs was covering the city wall behind us and roiling over the edge. Tai merely grinned and handed me a razor sharp root he'd taken out of the ground as soon as he'd heard the drumming of wings and hefted the dagger he'd pulled out of his belt. He ran his fingers along both edges of the sharpened blade, slitting open his skin and coating the blade in his blood and laughing maniacally.

"Time to earn your stripes, girlie!"


End file.
